Age and temperature effects on saturation of leaf fatty acids of Saxifraga cernua , an arctic herb

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Botany
• Main Authors: Marie, Beverley A. H., Cummins, W. Raymond
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1984
• Subjects: Plant Science; Arctic; Saxifraga cernua
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/b84-140; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/b84-140

Leaves from 90-day-old Saxifraga cernua plants which had been grown at 10 °C had more linolenic acid and less linoleic, oleic, and palmitic acids than did leaves from plants grown at 20 °C. When the linolenic acid content of the leaves was measured over the entire life cycle, the plants reached 66 days of age before the linolenic acid content was greater in 10 °C-grown plants than in 20 °C-grown plants. Plants grown at 20 °C, which had been shifted to 10 °C for 4 days, generally had more linolenic acid than plants grown continually at 20 °C, but there were few statistically significant differences. Larger increases tended to occur in plants which were older than 58 days at the time of the temperature shift. The corresponding shift of 10 °C-grown plants to 20 °C for 4 days resulted in inconsistent differences in linolenic acid content.