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UDC 631.523A method has been developed for isolating polyprenolsfrom the leaves of cotton plants of lines L-463, L-501, and L-4. The influence of an undecaprenol on the level of biosynthesis of the proteins of the nuclei of cotton seedlings has been studied in vivo and in vitro. It has been found that they double the level of biosynthesis nuclear proteins when the seeds are first wetted in a O. 1% solution.Polyprenols, which belong to the class of natural polyisoprenoids, are distributed in the green parts of many plants. They have the general formula H-(CH2-C(CH 3) = CH-CH2)n-OH, where the number of isoprenoid residues (n) varies from one plant family to another (for example, n = 11-13 for the cotton plant).In the leaves of various species of trees polyprenol is found in the form of esters with acetic acid [1] and with higher fatty acids [2]. Plants of different families have different compositions of their polyprenols: in broad-leaved species of trees the number of isoprene units in the molecular chain ranges from 6 to 12 [3, 41 and in conifers from 10 to 20 [1, 5]. The amount of polyprenols varies according to the phase of development of the leaves, from 0.08% (in June) to 1.25% (in September).The interest in polyprenols that has arisen in recent years is due mainly to the important role that they play as lipophilic precursors of sugars in the biosynthesis of bacterial polysaccharides and glycoproteins [7]. We have recently discovered a capacity of polyprenols for opening the Ca 2+ channels of bilayer membranes [8].The synthesis of polyprenols is a multistage process [4, 5]. The finding of new natural sources will open up prospects for the creation from them of drugs and other agents with a high penetrating capacity --for example, plant-protecting agents with improved membrane properties.It must be mentioned that the biological function of endogenous polyprenols still remains unclear, although reviews have appeared both on their synthesis [9] and on their biological activity [10].In the present paper we give results on the isolation of polyprenols from the leaves of cotton plants of lines L-463, L-501, and L-4, in which their level amounts to 1-3% of the air-dry mass, and also on the influence of undecaprenol on the biochemical reactions of cotton seedling nuclei.Undecaprenol predominated in all the cotton plant lines (Table 1). The undecaprenol:dodecaprenol ratio was 2:1 for L-501 and L-4 and almost 3:1 for L-463.From the leaves of an L-4 cotton plant we succeeded in isolating undecaprenol with a purity greater than 98 %, as was confirmed by the results of physical methods of analysis. Its mass spectrum included the peaks of the molecular ion with m/z 766 (C55H900) and fragments with m/z 748 (M + -H20) and 698 (M + -68).The following signals were observed in the PMR spectrum: two singlets at 1.62 and 1.54 ppm from cis-and transmethyl groups in a ratio of 2:1, a multiplet in the 1.90-2.05 ppm region with its center at 1.96 ppm from the methylene groups of the isoprenoid chain, a doublet with its center at 3....

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This review generalizes information on the composition of the components of cottonplant leaves : hydrocarbons, organic, amino, and hydroxy acids, alcohols, triterpenes, phenolic compounds, carotenoids, sugars, pectin substances, polyisoprenoids, diols, tocopherols, sterol esters, and others. Their role in the growth and development of the plant and their biological properties are discussed.The cotton plant (Gossypium L., Malvaceae), growing in tropical and and subtropical regions of Asia, America, Australia, and Africa, is represented by 35 species. One of the four cultivated species --G. hirsutum --grows in the republics of Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaidzhan, the USA, Mexico, Brazil, and other main cotton-planting countries.A many-sided chemical study of the vegetative and generative organs of the cotton plant has permitted A. S. Sadykov and his students to isolate more than 100 compounds of various classes [1][2][3]. Cottonplant leaves (CLs) are the least used organ of the plant, although they make up 22 % of the total mass of the epigeal part. Both pinched-out CLs and those gathered at the end of vegetation can be used as sources of various biologically active compounds [3]. They contain a broad set of compounds, from extremely simple to complex. Six individual saturated hydrocarbons have been isolated from the CLs and other vegetative organs and identified: tetracosane, hexacosane, octacosane, triacontane, dotriacontane, and hexatriacontane [4,5]. The hydrocarbon composition of CLs has been characterized in [6,7].In addition to hydrocarbons, such high-molecular-mass alcohols as decan-l-ol, hexadecan-l-ol, heptadecan-l-ol, octadecan-l-ol, octacosan-l-ol, triacontan-l-ol, and dotriacontan-l-ol have been identified in CLs [2,4,5,7].The acid composition of CLs has been investigated in most detail. It comprises 17 [sic] organic acids [1,2,8,9]: cis-aconitic. The dynamics of the seasonal changes of such organic acids as oxalic, malic, citric, acetic, and others, have been studied. Their qualitative composition and quantitative ratio differ from variety to variety (108-F, 137-F, 2 and 3, 10964, 1306-DV) and also depend on the level at which the leaves are growing and on the vegetation period. The maximum level of organic acids is found at the end of the vegetation period, when the leaves are no longer necessary for the plant. CLs are rich in vitamins: ascorbic and nicotinic acids, riboflavin, inositol, vitamin P, and, particularly, provitamin A --carotene [2,3]. With respect to their ascorbic acid content they approximate to tomatoes, and the ascorbic acid is present both in free and bound form. Its level scarcely changes in vegetating leaves, but falls sharply when the leaves wither, which shows its participation in photosynthesis [8]. In their citric acid content (7.5%), CLs are not inferior to lemons, pomegranates, and makhorka [3], while their level of malic acid is surpassed only by barberries and rowan berries [3] Up to the middle 1960s there was no information in the literature characterizing the fatty ...

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