Chlorophyll synthesis and degradation were analyzed in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 by incubating cells in the presence of 13C-labeled glucose or 15N-containing salts. Upon mass spectral analysis of chlorophyll isolated from cells grown in the presence of 13C-glucose for different time periods, four chlorophyll pools were detected that differed markedly in the amount of 13C inc...

We report the identification and characterization of a low tocopherol Arabidopsis thaliana mutant, vitamin E pathway gene5-1 (vte5-1), with seed tocopherol levels reduced to 20% of the wild type. Map-based identification of the responsible mutation identified a G-->A transition, resulting in the introduction of a stop codon in At5g04490, a previously unannotated gene, which we named VTE5. Compl...

Wehave thus far demonstrated that in vitro phytol, isolated from the unsaponifiable matter of Hizikia fusiformis (Japanese name, hiziki), shows no effect on the typical triacylglycerol lipase (TG-lipase) activity, but shows a remarkable stimulating effect (250 to 300%) on the carboxylesterase (TA-esterase) activity toward triacetin in true solution in crude porcine pancreatic lipase preparation...

The ethyl acetate soluble part of a methanolic extract of the marine green alga Codium iyengarii, collected from the Karachi coast of the Arabian Sea, afforded four new derivatives of glycerol named : codioside A,B,C,D (1-4), a new derivative of frans-phytol named codioester (5) and rrans-phytol (6). The structures of 1-5 were elucidated with the aid of acid hydrolysis, methylation, GC-MS, and ...

       The volatile constituents of aerial parts of Euphorbia aellenii Rech.f. and E. microsciadea Boiss. were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and GC-mass spectrometry (MS) methods. The main volatile constituents of E. aellenii were phytol isomer (47.3%), camphene (31.9%) and caryophyllene oxide (20.6%), while the major volatile components of <em...

Lipids extracted from sediments in a saline seep in the Salt Basin of Lancaster County, Nebraska included alkanes, alkenes, alkanols, phytol, C27–30 sterols, C30–32 hopanoids, tetrahymanol, glycolipid and phospholipid fatty acids, and lipopolysaccharide hydroxyl fatty acids. Biomarker profiles suggest that the brine seeps of Salt Basin support a microbial ecosystem adapted to a relatively highl...

Tocopherols, a subclassof tocochromanols that contain a phytol attached to the head group, act as antioxidants to protect lipids from oxidative damage, a particularly important function in chloroplasts and for seed longevity (reviewed in Maeda and DellaPenna, 2007). One pathway for tocopherol biosynthesis involves de novo synthesis from geranylgeranyl-diphosphate; the other pathway uses phytols...