Nonsedimentable microvesicles from senescing bean cotyledons contain gel phase-forming phospholipid degradation products.

A mixture of liquid-crystalline and gel-phase lipid domains is detectable by wide angle x-ray diffraction in smooth microsomal membranes isolated from senescent 7-day-old cotyledons, whereas corresponding membranes from young 2-day-old cotyledons are exclusively liquid-crystalline. The gel-phase domains in the senescent membranes comprise phospholipid degradation products including diacylglycerols, free fatty acids, long-chain aldehydes, and long-chain hydrocarbons. The same complement of phospholipid degradation products is also present in nonsedimentable microvesicles isolated from senescent 7-day-old cotyledons by filtration of a 250,000g, 12-hour supernatant through a 300,000 dalton cut-off filter. The phospholipid degradation products in the microvesicles form gel-phase lipid domains when reconstituted into phospholipid liposomes. Nonsedimentable microvesicles of a similar size, which are again enriched in the same gel-phase-forming phospholipid degradation products, are also generated in vitro from smooth microsomal membranes isolated from 2-day-old cotyledons when Ca(2+) is added to activate membrane-associated lipolytic enzymes. The Ca(2+)-treated membranes do not contain detectable gel-phase domains, suggesting that the phospholipid degradation products are completely removed by microvesiculation. The observations collectively indicate that these nonsedimentable microvesicles serve as a vehicle for moving phospholipid degradation products out of membrane bilayers into the cytosol. As noted previously (Yao K, Paliyath G, Humphrey RW, Hallett FR, Thompson JE [1991] Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 88: 2269-2273), the term "deteriosome" connotes this putative function and would serve to distinguish these microvesicles from other cytoplasmic microvesicles unrelated to deterioration.