Fat metabolism in higher plants. I. Biogenesis of higher fatty acids by slices of peanut cotyledons in vitro.

Although considerable research has been conducted in recent years on the mechanisms of fatty acid synthesis and oxidation in animal tissues (1) and in microorganisms (2), no similar studies of higher plants have yet been reported, despite the great importance of fat-storing seeds and fruits in the economy of nature and the value to comparative biochemistry of an understanding of fatty acid biogenesis and oxidation in their development and germination. In this study, the first in a series on fat metabolism in plants, the ability of cotyledon slices from both developing and germinating seeds to utilize a variety of substrates in the synthesis of higher fatty acids has been examined. These substrates include formate-C14, acetate-l , 2-C14, acetate-1-CY4, acetate-2-CY4, propionate-1-C14, butyrate-1-Ci4, valerate-lC14, valerate-3-CY4, caproate-l-C14, succinate-1 ,4-CY4, pyruvate-2-C14, and Cl4 uniformly labeled glucose and fructose. The rate of appearance of Cl4 in the respiratory CO2 and of incorporation of radioactivity into fatty acids from acetate-land 2-CY4, as well as the effect of anaerobic conditions and of 2,4-dinitrophenol on fatty acid synthesis from acetate-2-C14, is also reported for cotyledon slices from both maturing and germinating peanuts.