Content and Composition of Lipids and Their Fatty Acids in Needles of Pinus sylvestris L. and Picea obovata Ledeb. upon Cold Hardening in the Cryolithozone of Yakutia

Abstract

The composition of lipids and fatty acids (FAs) and changes in their content in needles of summer- and autumn-vegetating conifer trees growing in the cryolithozone of Yakutia have been studied by thin-layer and gas-liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry. A comparative analysis of the content of total lipids (TL) and phospholipids (PL) has been carried out, and the FA composition of TL in needles of Pinus sylvestris L. and Picea obovata Ledeb. has been determined for summer and autumn periods. In the course of adaptation to low autumn temperatures of the Yakutian cryolithozone, the TL content in needles of P. sylvestris and P. obovata significantly (by 30%) increased compared to the summer season. During this period, the phosphatidylcholine content in needles of both species also increased from 13.8 to 31 mg/g dry wt. For both species, the FA lipid composition of needles included a high content of species-specific unsaturated polymethylene-interrupted fatty acids (Δ5-UPIFA). Increase in the content of TL, PL, total FA, and Δ5-UPIFA observed during a temperature drop significantly exceeds that in plants of these species growing in other parts of Siberia. This fact is probably caused by features of low-temperature adaptation of plants in permafrost ecosystems of Yakutia.