Characterization of protochlorophyllide and protochlorophyllide esters in roots of dark‐grown plants

Abstract

The protochlorophyll pools of roots of dark‐grown wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Walde), maize (Zea mays L. cv. Goldcrest) and wrinkledseeded pea (Pisum sativum L. ssp. sativurh cv. Kelvedon Wonder) were investigated by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and low temperature fluorescence spectroscopy. All roots contained protochlorophyllide and esterified protochlorophyllides (protochlorophylls) but with considerably larger relative amounts of the latter compared with etiolated leaves. The alcohol moieties of the 4 detected protochlorophylls were geranylgeraniol (GG), dihydrogeranylgeraniol (DHGG), tetrahydrogeranylgeraniol (THGG) and phytol. The relative amounts of the different protochlorophylls varied between the species. Protochlorophyllide and the 4 protochlorophylls all contained monovinyl forms. The divinyl forms could not be detected by our instruments. Wrinkledseeded pea contained in addition chlorophyll a, some unidentified chlorophylls and negligible amounts of chlorophyllide. Small amounts of carotenoids were found in roots of all investigated species. The carotenoids were the same as those found in green or etiolated leaves, but present in different relative amounts.

Monovinyl and divinyl protochlorophyll in different stages of esterification isolated from mutant C-2A' of the unicellular green alga Scenedesmus obliquus

“…When PChl frotn wheat roots was applied to the HPLC-system, four different esterified PChl-forms could be separated showing the same elution profile as described by Me Ewen and Lindsten (1992), Four peaks couid be observed (Fig, 5a) which belong to PChlGG (1), PChlDHGG (2), PChlTHGG (3) and PChlphytol (4) according to these authors. The major part of the PChl was esterified with phytol as was observed previously (Me Ewen and Lindsten (1992), When fractions of the two PChl derivatives from Scenedesmus ohiiquus mutant C-2A' purified by HPLC on polyethylene were analyzed, the elution profiles of MVand DV-PChl also showed four peaks (Fig. 5b,c).…”

The Regulation of Enzymes Involved in Chlorophyll Biosynthesis

“…This proposal was based on findings that, depending on the plant species investigated and the experimental conditions used, either the 3monovinyl or 3,8-divinyl forms of Pchlide a predominated (Tripathy and Rebeiz, 1988). Later studies, however, showed that esterified forms of only 3-monovinyl but not of 3,8-divinyl Pchlide a could be detected in most plants, with geranylgeraniol, dihydrogeranylgeraniol, tetrahydrogeranylgeraniol, and phytol being the alcohol moieties (McEwen and Lindsten, 1992). Similar to these findings, only the phytol esters of 3-monovinyl Pchlide b could be isolated from diverse plant species (Shedbalkar et al, 1991).…”

Protochlorophyll(ide) forms in hypocotyls of dark‐grown bean (Phaseolus vulgaris)

“…The phototransformable form Pchlide^sinjT has not been detected in roots. The esterified Pchls dominate over the unesterified Pchlide (Me Ewen and Lindsten 1992). PLBs have been reported in plastids of roots (Murakami 1962, Salema !97i, Fadeel and Al-Sani 1972, Oliveira 1982, but some authors question if these structures are identical to PLBs of etiolated leaves (Newcomb 1967, Wbatley 1983).…”