Lipid profiling and tolerance to low-temperature stress in Thellungiella salsuginea in comparison with Arabidopsis thaliana

Changes in membrane lipid composition is a fundamental strategy for plants to resist low-temperature stress. We compared members of 11 membrane glycerolipid classes in Thellungiella salsuginea and its close relative Arabidopsis thaliana at normal growth temperature, and during cold acclimation (CA), freezing (FR), and post-freezing recovery (PFR). The results showed several properties of T. salsuginea distinct from that in A. thaliana, which included: 1) low relative content of phosphatidic acid (PA) and a rapid increase and decrease of PA during FR and PFR respectively; 2) insensitivity of lyso-phospholipids to freezing; and 3) high ratio of phosphatidylcholine to phosphatidylethanolamine. All these properties were in favour of maintaining membrane integrity and stability and therefore enable T. salsuginea to be more tolerant to freezing than A. thaliana.