Effects of Aluminum on ATPase Activity and Lipid Composition of Plasma Membranes from Wheat Roots

The effects of aluminum on ATPase activity and lipid composition of the plasma membranes isolated from root tips of Al-tolerant (Altas 66) or Al-sensitive (Scout 66) cultivar of Triticum aestivum L.was assayed. The results showed that both cultivars had similar changes in H+ -ATPase and Ca2+ -ATPase activities after aluminum treatment. Exposure of both cultivars to 20 and 100 (mol/L aluminum for 5 d significantly decreased the activities of Ca2+ -ATPase of plasma membranes. The activities of H+-ATPasc in plasma membrane increased under 20 μmol/L aluminum and decreased at 100 μmol/L aluminum. With aluminum treatment, the PL content of plasma membrane decreased, but GL content increased. The ratio of PL to GL decreased more distinctly in Scout 66 than that in Altas 66. Treated with 20 and 100 μmol/L aluminum, linolenic acid content and the index of unsaturated fatty acids decreaced greatly in Scout 66, but the index of unsaturated fatty acids in Altas 66 increased slightly.