Fat Metabolism in Higher Plants XXXVI: Long Chain Fatty Acid Synthesis in Germinating Peas

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Abstract
A low lipid, high starch containing tissue, namely cotyledons of germinating pea seedlings was examined for its capacity to synthesize fatty acid. Intact tissue slices readily incorporate acetate-14C into fatty acids from C16 to C24. Although crude homogenates synthesize primarily 16:0 and 18:0 from malonyl CoA, subsequent fractionation into a 10,000g pellet, a 105g pellet and supernatant (soluble synthetase) revealed that the 105g pellet readily synthesizes C16 to C28 fatty acids whereas the 10,000g and the supernatant synthesize primarily C16 and C18. All systems require acyl carrier protein (ACP), TPNH, DPNH if malonyl CoA is the substrate and ACP, Mg2+, CO2, ATP, TPNH, and DPNH if acetyl CoA is the substrate. The cotyledons of germinating pea seedlings appear to have a soluble synthetase and 10,000g particles for the synthesis of C16 and C18 fatty acid, and 105g particles which specifically synthesize the very long chain fatty acid from malonyl CoA, presumably via malonyl ACP.