Chloroplast Fatty Acid Composition in Mediterranean Populations of the Marine Chlorophyte, Anadyomene stellata

Chloroplasts isolated from three populations of the tropical marine Chlorophyte Anadyomene stellata collected off the coast of Greece were analyzed for their fatty acid composition. Following the preparation of fatty acid methyl esters, GC-MS (El) was utilized to identify the fatty acids present in each population. Including isomers, the fatty acid profile of all three algal populations was comprised of 19 fatty acids (4 saturated, 6 monounsaturated, 9 polyunsaturated) with palmitic acid present in the highest amounts (25-27% of total fatty acids). Analysis of variance revealed significant differences amongst the three populations in the percent of total fatty acids for twelve of the fatty acids. High levels of C20 PUFAs, an atypical observation in Chlorophytes, were observed in all three populations comprising approximately 17% of total fatty acids. Furthermore a 14:2 PUFA , apparently rare in marine macrophytic Chlorophytes, was identified in significant quantities. Surprisingly, we did not find any of the conjugated tetraene containing fatty acids that we previously identified in the A. stellata populations studied from the Florida Keys.