Figure 2.

Isolation of lipid droplets from avocado mesocarp. A and B, Lipid droplets were isolated by differential centrifugation and flotation through Suc, then the “fat-pad” fraction was stained with the neutral lipid-specific fluorescent dye BODIPY 493/503 and imaged using differential interference contrast (A) or fluorescence (B) microscopy. Bars = 25 µm. C and D, The TAG content of each fraction was also quantified by mass spectrometry, confirming the enrichment of TAGs in isolated lipid droplets but not in other subcellular fractions. Similar results were obtained for lipid droplets isolated from mature fruit obtained from either a local market (C) or from the breeder, whereby the fruit was harvested directly from the tree at the orchard (D). E, Comparison of the molecular species profiles (in mol %) of TAGs in isolated lipid droplets (LD) from avocado mesocarp (store-bought versus breeder-harvested fruit) or in tissue prints of store-bought whole fruits analyzed by MADLI-MSI (Fig. 1). The lipid molecular species are indicated by total number of acyl carbons and numbers of double bonds, as is Figure 1. ESI-MS, Electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry.