Modulation of glycerophosphorylcholine and glycerophosphorylethanolamine in rice shoots by the environment oxygen level

Glycerophosphorylcholine (GPC) and glycerophosphorylethanolamine, recently hypothesized to play a central role in phospholipid metabolism, are shown for the first time to be present in higher plants, together with two other unknown phosphodiesters. The GPC concentration is fairly high in young rice (Oryza saliva L.) shoots (0.21 mmol·(kg fresh wt tissue)−). It is progressively reduced by growth in air but considerably increased under anoxia, (0.72 mmol·(kg fresh wt tissue)−), concomitantly with the anoxia‐stimulated elongation of the rice coleoptile. The involvment of GPC concentration in membrane functionality is discussed in the light of a recent hypothesis.