Differential extraction of eleostearic acid-rich lipid-protein complexes in tung seeds

Lipid-protein complexes were identified in the 104,000 x g supernatant frac tion of developing lung seeds. Incubation of this fraction with linoleoyl-C oA promoted an increase of chloroform-extractable lipids in a lime-dependen t manner. High-performance liquid chromatography analysis indicated that th e extracted lipids were similar to mature tung oil triglycerides. Different ial extraction using chloroform or chloroform/methanol indicated that linol eoyl-CoA promoted extraction of pre-existing lipids rather than de novo syn thesis. Pin increase in extractable lipids was also observed after incubati on with proteinase K. Isolation of lipid-protein complexes by sucrose densi ty centrifugation and analysis of proteins by gel electrophoresis revealed several proteins specifically associated with this lipid fraction.