Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Lipid metabolism is the synthesis and degradation of lipids in cells, involving the breakdown and storage of fats for energy and the synthesis of structural and functional lipids, such as those involved in the construction of cell membranes. In animals, these fats are obtained from food and are synthesized by the liver. [1]
Plant lipid transfer proteins, also known as plant LTPs or PLTPs, are a group of highly-conserved proteins of about 7-9kDa found in higher plant tissues. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] As its name implies, lipid transfer proteins facilitate the shuttling of phospholipids and other fatty acid groups between cell membranes . [ 3 ]
Plant thylakoid membranes have the largest lipid component of a non-bilayer forming monogalactosyl diglyceride (MGDG), and little phospholipids; despite this unique lipid composition, chloroplast thylakoid membranes have been shown to contain a dynamic lipid-bilayer matrix as revealed by magnetic resonance and electron microscope studies. [59]
A significant proportion of the fatty acids in the body are obtained from the diet, in the form of triglycerides of either animal or plant origin. The fatty acids in the fats obtained from land animals tend to be saturated, whereas the fatty acids in the triglycerides of fish and plants are often polyunsaturated and therefore present as oils.
Oil bodies are the organelle that has evolved to hold triglycerides in plant cells. They are therefore the principal store of chemical energy in oleaginous seeds. The structure and composition of plant seed oil bodies has been the subject of research from at least as far back as the 1980s, with several papers published in the 80s and 90s.
Lipid droplets, also referred to as lipid bodies, oil bodies or adiposomes, [1] are lipid-rich cellular organelles that regulate the storage and hydrolysis of neutral lipids and are found largely in the adipose tissue. [2] They also serve as a reservoir for cholesterol and acyl-glycerols for membrane formation and maintenance.
This lipidation event is the most common type of fatty acylation [3] and is present in many organisms, including animals, plants, fungi, protozoans [4] and viruses. Myristoylation allows for weak protein–protein and protein–lipid interactions [ 5 ] and plays an essential role in membrane targeting, protein–protein interactions and ...
Storage organs may act as perennating organs ('perennating' as in perennial, meaning "through the year", used in the sense of continuing beyond the year and in due course lasting for multiple years). These are used by plants to survive adverse periods in the plant's life-cycle (e.g. caused by cold, excessive heat, lack of light or drought).