Analysis and quantification of plant membrane lipids by thin-layer chromatography and gas chromatography

Galactolipids represent the predominant membrane lipid class in plants. In general, galactolipids are restricted to plastids, but during phosphate deficiency, they also accumulate in extraplastidial membranes. Two groups of plants can be distinguished based on the presence of a specific fatty acid, hexadecatrienoic acid (16:3), in chloroplast lipids. Plants that contain galactolipids with 16:3 acids are designated "16:3-plants"; the other group of plants which lack 16:3 contain mostly 18:3 in their galactolipids ("18:3-plants"). The methods in this chapter describe the extraction of membrane lipids from whole leaves, or from subcellular fractions, and their analysis via thin-layer chromatography (TLC) with different staining methods. Furthermore, a protocol for membrane lipid quantification is presented starting with the separation via TLC, transmethylation of the isolated lipids to fatty acid methyl esters, and their quantitative analysis via gas chromatography (GC).