Hydrolysis of Lecithin by Plant Plastid Enzymes

Enzymatic liberation of choline from egg lecithin by plastid fractions from sugar beet, spinach, and cabbage leaves and from carrot root was a rapid, first order reaction (up to 70% hydrolysis), and was not preceded by a lag phase. None of the choline-containing products of lecithin degradation (lysolecithin, glycerylphosphorylcholine, or phosphorylcholine) lost choline on incubation with spinach chloroplasts. Inorganic phosphate liberation from lecithin by the plastids was preceded by a lag phase and was much slower than choline liberation. Spinach chloroplasts catalyzed the liberation of inorganic phosphate from L-α-phosphatidic acid and from L-α-glycerophosphate. The water-soluble organic phosphate liberated from lecithin by spinach chloroplasts was identified chromatographically as phosphorylcholine. The ether-soluble organic phosphate produced during the hydrolysis of egg lecithin by carrot plastids was isolated and identified as L-α-phosphatidic acid. These observations suggest that the enzymatic hydrolysis of lecithin by plant plastids involves the following reactions: (1) lecithin → L-α-phosphatidic acid + choline; (2) L-α-phosphatidic acid → inorganic phosphate + diglyceride and/or (3) L-α-phosphatidic acid → glycerophosphate + fatty acids and (4) glycerophosphate → inorganic phosphate + glycerol; and (5) lecithin → phosphorylcholine + diglyceride. The L-α-structure for egg lecithin was confirmed.