Lipid asymmetry in plant plasma membranes: phosphate deficiency‐induced phospholipid replacement is restricted to the cytosolic leaflet

ABSTRACT As in other eukaryotes, plant plasma membranes contain sphingolipids, phospholipids, and free sterols. In addition, plant plasma membranes also contain sterol derivatives and usually <5 mol% of a galactolipid, digalactosyldiacylglycerol (DGDG). We earlier reported that compared to fully fertilized oats ( Avena sativa ), oats cultivated without phosphate replaced up to 70 mol% of the root plasma membrane phospholipids with DGDG. Here, we investigated the implications of a high DGDG content on membrane properties. The phospholipid‐to‐DGDG replacement almost exclusively occurred in the cytosolic leaflet, where DGDG constituted up to one‐third of the lipids. In the apoplastic (exoplasmic) leaflet, as well as in rafts, phospholipids were not replaced by DGDG, but by acylated sterol glycosides. Liposome studies revealed that the chain ordering in free sterol/phospholipid mixtures clearly decreased when > 5 mol% DGDG was included. As both the apoplastic plasma membrane leaflet (probably the major water permeability barrier) and rafts both contain only trace amounts of DGDG, we conclude that this lipid class is not compatible with membrane functions requiring a high degree of lipid order. By not replacing phospholipids site specifically with DGDG, negative functional effects of this lipid in the plasma membrane are avoided.—Tjellstrom, H., Hellgren, L. I., Wieslander, A., Sandelius, A. S. Lipid asymmetry in plant plasma membranes: phosphate deficiency‐induced phospholipid replacement is restricted to the cytosolic leaflet. FASEB J. 24, 1128–1138 (2010). www.fasebj.org