SALT-INDUCED CHANGES IN THE COMPOSITION OF LIPID CLASSES IN BARLEY ROOTS

Abstract

The lipids in the roots of 4-week-old barley seedlings, grown in nutrient solutions with different amounts of NaCl, were separated into classes by a combination of silicic acid column and thin layer chromatography. The total lipid and phospholipid concentration in the roots tended to increase slightly with increasing NaCl. This indicates that lipid synthesis is probably not a specific factor in salt-induced growth suppression. However the relative concentration of the various phospholipid classes was altered by increasing NaCl concentration. In general the polar phospholipids increased relative to the less-polar classes as the NaCl concentration was increased. Although in the range 0.2 to 0.4% NaCl a phospholipid tentatively identified as a diphosphatidyl glycerol tended to increase relative to phosphatidyl ethanolamine. Phosphatidyl choline increased with increasing NaCl concentration.