Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol (SQDG) in Plants: Functional Diversity of

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Lipidomics

  • 196 Accesses

Synonyms

Membrane lipids, Glycerolipids, Diacylglycerol

Definitions

Amphipathic refers to a molecule possessing both lipophilic and hydrophilic (polar) groups.

Structure and Occurrence

Sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol (SQDG) is a sulfur-containing nonphosphorous glycerolipid (sulfolipid) specifically associated with the photosynthetic membranes of plants, algae, protozoa, lichen, and most photosynthetic bacteria. The molecule was discovered and structurally characterized by Benson et al. (Benson 1963). The characteristic structural feature of SQDG is the presence of a unique sugar head group, a 6-deoxy-6-sulfoglucose, known as sulfoquinovose (Fig. 1). The complete structure of SQDG is 1,2-di-O-acyl-3-O-(6-deoxy-6-sulfo-α-D-glucopyranosyl)-sn-glycerol. The SQDG molecule is strongly amphipathic and is expected to have superb detergent properties (Benson 1963; Benning 1998).

Fig. 1
figure 1

Structure of the sulfolipid sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol (SQDG). R 1 and R 2 indicate acyl chains

Full size...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

Abbreviations

DGDG:

Digalactosyldiacylglycerol

MGDG:

Monogalactosyldiacylglycerol

PG:

Phosphatidylglycerol

PS II:

Photosystem II

PUFA:

Polyunsaturated fatty acid

SQDG:

Sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol

References

  • Benning C. Biosynthesis and function of the sulfolipid sulfoquinovosyl diacylglycerol. Annu Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol. 1998;49:53–75.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Benson AA. The plant sulfolipid. Adv Lipid Res. 1963;1:387–94.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gounaris K, Barber J. Isolation and characterization of a photosystem II reaction center lipoprotein complex. FEBS Lett. 1985;188:68–72.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Haase R, Unthan M, Couturier P, Radunz A, Schmid GH. Determination of glycolipid, sulpholipid and phospholipids in the thylakoid membrane. Z Naturforsch. 1993;48C:621–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Härtel H, Essigmann B, Lokstein H, Hoffmann-Benning S, Peters-Kottig M, Benning C. The phospholipid-deficient pho1 mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana is affected in the organization, but not in the light acclimation, of the thylakoid membrane. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1998;1415:205–18.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Heinz E. Recent investigations on the biosynthesis of the plant sulfolipid. In: De Kok LJ, editor. Sulfur nutrition and assimilation in higher plants. Den Haag: SPB Acad; 1993. p. 163–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones MR. Lipids in photosynthetic reaction centres: structural roles and functional holes. Prog Lipid Res. 2007;46:56–87.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly AA, Froehlich JE, Dörmann P. Disruption of the two digalactosyldiacylglycerol synthase genes DGD1 and DGD2 in Arabidopsis reveals the existence of an additional enzyme of galactolipid synthesis. Plant Cell. 2003;15:2694–706.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Khozin-Goldberg I. Lipid metabolism in microalgae. In: Borowitzka MA, Beardall J, Raven JA, editors. The physiology of microalgae. 6 Cham: Springer; 2016. p. 413–84.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Krupa Z, Huner NP, Williams JP, Maissan E, James DR. Development at cold-hardening temperatures: the structure and composition of purified rye light harvesting complex II. Plant Physiol. 1987;84:19–24.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Mudd JB, Kleppinger-Sparace KF. Sulfolipids. In: Stumpf PK, editor. The biochemistry of plants. A comprehensive treaty. Lipids: structure and function. New York: Academic; 1987. p. 275–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Radunz A, Bader K, Schmid G. Influence of antisera to sulphoquinovosyl diglyceride and to β-sitosterol on the photosynthetic electron transport in chloroplasts from higher plants. In: Sieghenthaler PA, Eichenberger W, editors. Structure, function and metabolism of plant lipids. Amsterdam: Elsevier Scientific Publishing; 1984. p. 479–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riekhof WR, Ruckle ME, Lydic TA, Sears BB, Benning C. The sulfolipids 2′-O-acyl-sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol and sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol are absent from a Chlamydomonas reinhardtii mutant deleted in SQD1. Plant Physiol. 2003;133:864–74.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Shibuya I, Hase E. Degradation and formation of sulfolipid occurring concurrently with de- and re-generation of chloroplasts in the cells of Chlorella protothecoides. Plant Cell Physiol. 1965;6:267–83.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shimojima M. Biosynthesis and functions of the plant sulfolipid. Prog Lipid Res. 2011;50:234–9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yu B, Benning C. Anionic lipids are required for chloroplast structure and function in Arabidopsis. Plant J. 2003;36:762–70.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Biochemistry, Georg-August-University Goettingen, Albrecht-von-Haller, Institute for Plant Sciences, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 11, 37077, Goettingen, Germany

    Krzysztof Zienkiewicz

Authors
  1. Krzysztof Zienkiewicz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Krzysztof Zienkiewicz .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine Centre for Life Sciences, Singapore, Singapore

    Markus R. Wenk

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this entry

Cite this entry

Zienkiewicz, K. (2017). Sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol (SQDG) in Plants: Functional Diversity of. In: Wenk, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Lipidomics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7864-1_176-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7864-1_176-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-007-7864-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-007-7864-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation