LONG-CHAIN RUBBER-LIKE POLYISOPRENOID ALCOHOLS IN LEAVES OF LUMNITZERA-RACEMOSA

Leaves of Lumnitzera racemosa contain ca. 1-2% (dry weight) of long-ch ain poly-cis-prenols composed of 15-100 isoprene units. In the natural mixture of these polyisoprenoid alcohols two families can be distingu ished: one with dominating prenologue composed of 17 isoprene units. T he second one consists of ca. 80 molecular species of polyprenols buil t up to 100 isoprene units. In this second family the dominating preno logues are composed of 25-30 isoprene units and prenologues composed o f 50-100 isoprene units form a high proportion, thus making this lipid fraction similar to natural rubber. The long-chain polyprenols of L. racemosa are of di-trans poly-cis type. They occur as esters of medium chain length fatty acids. The long-chain polyprenols of L. racemosa c an be considered as a group of intermediate compounds between prenyl L ipids and polyisoprene rubber polymer.