Envelope Membranes from Spinach Chloroplasts Are a Site of Metabolism of Fatty Acid Hydroperoxides

Enzymes in envelope membranes from spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) chloroplasts were found to catalyze the rapid breakdown of fatty acid hydroperoxides. In contrast, no such activities were detected in the stroma or in thylakoids. In preparations of envelope membranes, 9S-hydroperoxy-10(E),12(Z)-octadecadienoic acid, 13S-hydroperoxy-9(Z),11(E)-octadecadienoic acid, or 13S-hydroperoxy-9(Z),11(E),15(Z)-octadecatrienoic acid were transformed at almost the same rates (1-2 [mu]mol min-1 mg-1 protein). The products formed were separated by reversed-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography and further characterized by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Fatty acid hydroperoxides were cleaved (a) into aldehydes and oxoacid fragments, corresponding to the functioning of a hydroperoxide lyase, (b) into ketols that were spontaneously formed from allene oxide synthesized by a hydroperoxide dehydratase, (c) into hydroxy compounds synthesized enzymatically by a system that has not yet been characterized, and (d) into oxoenes resulting from the hydroperoxidase activity of a lipoxygenase. Chloroplast envelope membranes therefore contain a whole set of enzymes that catalyze the synthesis of a variety of fatty acid derivatives, some of which may act as regulatory molecules. The results presented demonstrate a new role for the plastid envelope within the plant cell.