Ethylene control of seed coat development in low and high sterile semidwarf indica rice cultivars

Abstract

Phosphatidylglycerol (PG) is of crucial importance for the organization and function of thylakoid membranes. The reason for a decrease of PG concentration in plants under phosphate deprivation stress still remains unclear. By comparing PG concentration and PG hydrolase activity of wheat leaves at different developmental stages, we show that when the first leaves are fully developed, the PG concentration and PG hydrolase activity in phosphate-deficient plants were similar to those of the controls. With age, there was a significant decrease in PG concentration combined with an increase in PG hydrolase activity for phosphate-deficient plants. The close correlation between the decrease in PG concentration and the increase in PG hydrolases activities suggests that PG hydrolysis was the most important factor responsible for the decrease in its concentration. The main hydrolysis products of PG are phosphatidic acid (PA), diacylglycerol (DAG) and free fatty acid (FFA). The application of an inhibitor, n-butanol, which blocks the formation of PA via the PLD pathway, to the in vitro enzyme reaction mixture may restrict PA and DAG production. Neomycin sulfate, a PLC inhibitor, was shown to exhibit significant inhibition in DAG generation. These results suggest that both PLD and PLC were responsible for PG degradation in the leaves of phosphate-deficient wheat. The possible role of PLA activity for PG degradation is also discussed.