Changes in Sterol Composition during Greening of Etiolated Barley Shoots

THE FOLLOWING STEROLS WERE IDENTIFIED IN BARLEY SHOOTS: stigmasterol, beta-sitosterol, campesterol, and cholesterol. The total sterol content of green and etiolated tissue was 2.84 and 3.20 milligrams per gram dry weight, respectively. The free sterols accounted for most of the difference in total sterol content. The sterol ester, sterol glycoside, and acylated sterol glycoside contents of green and etiolated barley shoots were essentially the same. Etiolated tissue had twice as much total beta-sitosterol as stigmasterol, while green tissue had equal amounts of these two sterols. The campesterol and cholesterol content was the same in green and etiolated tissue. This same sterol composition pattern held true for the free, glycosidic, and acylated glycosidic sterols; however, the sterol ester fraction had a completely different composition pattern. The esterified stigmasterol content was quite low in green and etiolated tissue, and campesterol was the second largest esterfied sterol component in etiolated tissue. Etiolated barley seedlings exposed to light had a shift in the ratio of free stigmasterol to beta-sitosterol in favor of stigmasterol; however, no correlation was observed between chlorophyll synthesis and shift in sterol composition.