title: The unique lipid composition of gecko (Gekko Gekko) photoreceptor outer segment membranes.
abstract: This study investigated the lipid and fatty acid composition of gecko photoreceptor outer segment membranes which contain the P521 cone-type pigment. The lipids of gecko photoreceptor outer segment membranes were first extracted and separated by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and then analyzed by gas chromatography (GC). Our results show that gecko photoreceptor outer segment membranes contain less phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and more phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylserine (PS) compared with those of bovine and frog. The content of the polyunsaturated fatty acid, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), in PC and PS is also the highest yet reported (55 and 63%, respectively). These lipid differences may provide some insight into the specific lipid requirements of cone-type pigments.
authors.affiliation: Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kuwata
authors.forename: T G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Ebrey
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001001:Anura; D002417:Cattle; D004075:Diglycerides / Q000032:analysis; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids / Q000032:analysis; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis; D008055:Lipids / Q000032:analysis* / Q000145:classification; D008116:Lizards / Q000378:metabolism*; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines / Q000032:analysis; D010714:Phosphatidylethanolamines / Q000032:analysis; D010716:Phosphatidylinositols / Q000032:analysis; D010718:Phosphatidylserines / Q000032:analysis; D012374:Rod Cell Outer Segment / Q000737:chemistry*; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D004075:Diglycerides; D005227:Fatty Acids; D008055:Lipids; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; D010714:Phosphatidylethanolamines; D010716:Phosphatidylinositols; D010718:Phosphatidylserines; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids