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Updated: Aug 29, 2026

Arabidopsis thaliana Polar Glycerolipid Profiling by Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) Coupled with Gas-Liquid Chromatography (GLC)
Published on: March 18, 2011
Substrate recognition and selectivity of plant glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferases (GPATs) from Cucurbita moscata
Taro Tamada1, Michael D Feese, Stefano R Ferri
1Central Laboratories for Key Technology, Kirin Brewery Co. Ltd, Fukuura 1-13-5, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama 236-0004, Japan.
Abstract:
Stromal glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferases (GPAT) are responsible for the selective incorporation of saturated and unsaturated fatty-acyl chains into chloroplast membranes, which is an important determinant of a plant's ability to tolerate chilling temperatures. The molecular mechanisms of plant chilling tolerance were elucidated by creating chimeric GPATs between squash (Cucurbita moscata, chilling-sensitive) and spinach (Spinacea oleracea, chilling-tolerant) and the results were interpreted using structural information on squash GPAT determined by X-ray crystallography at 1.55 A resolution. Enzymatic analysis of the chimeric GPATs showed that the chimeric GPATs containing the spinach region from residues 128 to 187 prefer the 18:1 unsaturated fatty acid rather than 16:0 saturated fatty acid. Structure analysis suggests that the size and character of the cavity that is formed from this region determines the specific recognition of acyl chains.
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