The environmental cond itions prevailing during growth of plant tissue cultures affect the concentration of certain lipid classes and the fatty acid patterns of the total lipids. Irrespective of whether the cultures are grown under continuous illumination or in the dark, aerated cultures contain larger proportions of sterols, steryl esters, steryl glycosides and various sterylglycolipids and lower concentrations of squalene than non-aerated cultures. The lipids of the latter contain larger proportions of saturated very long-chain fatty acids than those of the former cultures.
I..lntroduction
Most of the lipid classes known to be present in higher plants have been reported to occur also in tissue cultures derived from these plants [1][2][3][4][5][6]. However, the factors influencing the lipid composition of plant tissue cultures have not been studied.
The present communication describes the effect of aeration and illumination on the growth, the lipid content and the lipid composition of suspension cultures derived from the roots of soybean (Glycine so~a) and rape (Brassica napus).
II. Experimental
A. Tissue cultures
Seeds of soybean (Glycine so~a) and rape (Brassica napus) were sterilized by soaking for 20 min in 0.25% aqueous mercury (II) chloride solution under reduced pressure. The seeds were thoroughly washed with sterile water, and allowed to germinate aseptically on wet filter paper in Petri dishes for three days. The seedlings * Part IV of this series is ref. 1. ** Recipient of an Alexander yon Humboldt-Stipendium, 1972-1974.