Exploring Phylogenetic Relationships between Hundreds of Plant Fatty Acids Synthesized by Thousands of Plants.
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Grain samples of small millets, namely foxtail (Setaria italica), proso (Panicum miliaceum), and finger (Eleusine coracana), were extracted sequentially with hexane for free lipids, with hot water-saturated butanol for bound lipids, and again with hexane after acid hydrolysis for structural lipids. The total lipid content (dwb), comprising free, bound, and structural lipids was: 11.0% (45.4, 47.3, and 7.3%) in foxtail, 9.0% (62.2, 27.8, and 10.0%) in proso, and 5.2% (42.3, 46.2, and 11.5%) in finger millets. The nonpolar lipids (NL), glycolipids (GL), and phospholipids (PL), separated by silicic acid column chromatography, constituted 80-83%, 6-14%, and 5-14%, respectively, of the total lipids. The subclasses, separated by thin-layer chromatography, consisted chiefly of triacylglycerols in NL; esterified sterylglycosides, monogalactosyldiglycerides, and digalactosyldiglycerides in GL; and phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, and lysophosphatidylcholine in PL. Linoleic, oleic, and palmitic acids were the chief constituents in all the lipid classes. Linolenic acid was present in appreciable proportions in the PL classes.