VIEW ARTICLE

Effect of Ozone on Sterols and Sterol Derivatives in Bean Leaves. Harley Tomlinson, Assistant Plant Pathologist, Department of Plant Pathology and Botany, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven 06504; Saul Rich, Senior Plant Pathologist, Department of Plant Pathology and Botany, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven 06504. Phytopathology 61:1404-1405. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-61-1404.

Acylated sterol glycosides (ASG) and sterol glycosides were found to increase consistently as the free sterols decrease in bean leaves exposed to ozone. The following fatty acids were detected in bean leaf ASG analyzed by separating the methyl esters by gas-liquid chromatography: palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic, and linolenic. All these fatty acid components increase in the ASG of ozonated leaves, with a major increase in linolenic acid. Ozone increases cell permeability. Sterols and their derivatives are important components of cellular membranes, and these changes may be one step in ozone toxicity.