ABSTRACTporters allows cells to accumulate essential ions while excluding ions which are toxic. The exclusion of Na+, for example, is believed to be an important trait of salt-tolerant barley cultivars (21). Selective transport also occurs at the tonoplast and other endomembranes. The selectivity ofeach membrane varies with the types of ion channels and pumps that are present, while the efficacy of each membrane as a barrier may vary with the type and proportion of its lipid components (4, 5, 7). The major lipid components of plant membranes are phospholipids. glycolipids, and sterols. The specific proportions of these lipids in the PM (24,29,30) and the tonoplast (25, 32) are known for a variety of plant tissues. Only one study (34) has examined the lipid composition of both the PM and tonoplast prepared from a single source.There is some evidence that salt stress can induce changes in plant membrane lipids. A survey of plant species of varying salt-tolerance reported an increase in the ratio of glycolipid to phospholipid in the roots of both a halophyte, Atriplex gmelinia, and the salt-sensitive cucumber, Cucumis sativa L., when plants were grown in increasing concentrations of NaCl (18). In Citrus roots, the sterol composition was altered in salt-stressed plants and some of these changes occurred at the PM (8, 9). It was not known ifsalt affects the lipid composition of the PM or endomembranes of barley.Membrane fractions that are enriched in PM, tonoplast, and ER are prepared by centrifuging a microsomal pellet prepared from barley roots through a sucrose step gradient (11,12). When barley plants are grown in 100 mM NaCl the distribution of marker enzymes on sucrose gradients does not change, but the protein compositions of the PM, endomembrane, and cytoplasmic fractions are altered (19,20), and a Na+/H+ exchange is activated in the tonoplast membranes. Shoot growth is reduced but the plants show no signs ofinjury (19). In this study we identify and quantify the phospholipids, glycolipids, and sterols contained in the three membrane fractions. The effect of a high but noninjurious concentration phatidylethanolamine; PI, phosphatidylinositol; PS, phosphatidylserine; TG, tonoplast and Golgi membranes; 24v-methylcholesterol, campesterol or dihydrobrassicasterol, orientation of methyl group at carbon 24 not determined.www.plantphysiol.org on May 9, 2018 -Published by Downloaded from