Electric and structural studies of hormone interaction with chloroplast envelope membranes isolated from vegetative and generative rape

The electric and structural properties of envelope membranes of chloroplasts obtained from vegetative and generative plants of rape and the effect of hormone (IAA, GA3 and zearalenone) treatment were determined by zeta potential and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) methods. Chloroplasts were isolated from leaves cut off from the vegetative (before cooling) and generative apical parts of plants. The lipid composition of chloroplast envelope membranes were analyzed by chromatographic techniques. Envelopes from generative plants contained higher levels of digalactosyldiacylglycerol (DGDG) and smaller amounts of phospholipids (PLs) in comparison to those obtained from vegetative ones. Moreover, envelopes of generative plants were characterized by higher fractions of unsaturated fatty acids. The zeta potential changes caused by hormone treatment were higher for chloroplasts isolated from vegetative plants in comparison to chloroplasts isolated from generative ones. An especially strong effect was observed for chloroplasts treated with IAA. The thickness of bilayers of untreated chloroplasts from vegetative plants were larger by 0.4 nm when comparing to the thickness of layers obtained from generative ones. The effect of hormones (GA3 and zearalenone) was detected only for vegetative chloroplasts. Both applied methods indicated differences in the properties of untreated and hormone-treated chloroplasts obtained from vegetative and generative plants.