Biphasic changes in the level and composition of Dunaliella salina plasma membrane diacylglycerols following hypoosmotic shock.

Hypoosmotic shock has been shown to trigger an immediate and selective increase of plasma membrane diacylglycerols (DAG) in the green alga Dunaliella salina, coinciding with an approximately equivalent loss of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate from this membrane [Ha, K.S., & Thompson, G.A., Jr. (1991) Plant Physiol. 97, 921-927]. Following a slight decline in amount, DAG levels of the plasma membrane resumed their rise by 2 min after the shock and by 40 min had achieved a maximum concentration equivalent to 230% of DAG levels in unstressed cells. This second, more sustained increase of plasma membrane DAG was matched by a DAG increase in the microsome-enriched cytoplasmic membrane fraction, commencing at 2 min and peaking at 140% of control values. The changing pattern of DAG molecular species produced in the plasma membrane during the early phases of hypoosmotic stress was compatible with their derivation from phospholipase C hydrolysis of inositol phospholipids and phosphatidylcholine. From 8 min following hypoosmotic shock, as relatively larger scale DAG accumulations developed in the cytoplasmic membranes, the molecular species composition changed to reflect a marked increase in de novo synthesis of sn-1-oleoyl, sn-2-palmitoylglycerol, and dioleoylglycerol. The former molecular species appears to be synthesized in the chloroplast while the latter is produced in the endoplasmic reticulum. The radioisotope labeling data with Na2(14)CO3 confirmed that the biphasic formation of DAG triggered by hypoosmotic shock culminates in a large-scale de novo synthesis of DAG. This is the first clear evidence for de novo synthesis as a source of DAG following PIP2-mediated signaling.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)