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Metabolism and Enzymology

Acyl Coenzyme A Preference of the Glycerol Phosphate Pathway in the Microsomes from the Maturing Seeds of Palm, Maize, and Rapeseed ¹

Biology Department, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208

The acyl coenzyme A (CoA) preference of the glycerol phosphate pathway in the microsomes from the maturing seeds of palm (Butia capitata Becc.), maize (Zea mays L.), and rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) was tested. Each microsomal preparation was incubated with [¹⁴C-U]-glycerol-3-phosphate and either lauroyl CoA, oleoyl CoA, or erucoyl CoA, and the ¹⁴C-lipid products were separated and quantitated. In the presence of oleoyl CoA, the microsomes from each of the three species produced lysophosphatidic acid, phosphatidic acid, diacylglycerol, and triacylglycerol with kinetics consistent with the operation of the glycerol phosphate pathway. In the presence of erucoyl CoA, the microsomes from all the three species did not produce di- or tri-acyl lipids. In the presence of lauroyl CoA, only the microsomes from palm, but not those from maize or rapeseed, synthesized di- and tri-acyl lipids. This lack of reactivity of lauroyl CoA was also observed in the microsomes from maturing castor bean, peanut, and soybean. In maize seed and rapeseed, but not palm seed, the kinetics of labeling suggest that lauroyl and erucoyl moieties of the acyl CoAs were incorporated into lysophosphatidic acid but failed to enter into phosphatidic acid and thus the subsequent lipid products. We propose that the high degree of acyl specificity of lysophosphatidyl acyltransferase is the blocking step in the synthesis of triacylglycerols using lauroyl CoA or erucoyl CoA. The significance of the findings in seed oil biotechnology is discussed.

¹ Supported by National Science Foundation grant DMB 85-15556.

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