Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Okamoto, T.
Right arrow Articles by Murakami, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Okamoto, T.
Right arrow Articles by Murakami, S.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Okamoto, T.
Right arrow Articles by Murakami, S.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Plant and Cell Physiology, 1977, Vol. 18, No. 3 551-560
© 1977

Article

Effects of linolenic acid on spinach chloroplast structure

Takeshi Okamoto1,3, Sakae Katoh1 and Satoru Murakami2

1Department of Pure and Applied Sciences, College of General Education, University of Tokyo Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan
2Department of Biology, College of General Education, University of Tokyo Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan

The effects of various concentrations of linolenic acid on the membrane structure of chloroplasts were studied in order to correlate them with changes in the capacity of chloroplasts to bind free fatty acid.

Linolenic acid induced decrease in absorbance of chloroplasts at 540 nm, especially markedly at concentrations between 20 and 60 µM. Electron microscopic studies revealed that the decrease was largely due to the unfolding of grana stacks. Ratios of bound to free linolenic acid also increased most markedly in the same range of linolenic acid concentration. These results indicate that linolenic acid-induced changes in chloroplast structure are the main cause of the changes in the capacity of chloroplasts to bind free fatty acid.

Linolenic acid-induced structure changes of chloroplasts were reversible. Treatment with 100 µM linolenic acid transformed chloroplasts into assemblies of numerous vesicles. However, addition of bovine serum albumin restored the original configuration of class II chloroplasts, i.e., grana stacks interwoven by intergrana thylakoids. The mode of action of linolenic acid on the chloroplast structure is discussed in terms of hydrophobic association of grana thylakoids.

3 Present address: Biological Laboratory, Nippon Medical School, Kosugi, Kawasaki, Japan.

(Received December 16, 1976; )
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.