Studies on biosynthesis of waxes by developing jojoba seed tissue

Slices of developing jojoba cotyledons incorporated a variety of precursors in to wax, free alcohols, and polar lipids.¹⁴C-Decanoic and¹⁴C-lauric acids were elongated and desaturated, whereas¹⁴C-myristic and¹⁴C-longer chain fatty acids, although incorporated into wax, were insignificantly modified. Exogenously added¹⁴C-acetate contributed mainly to chain elongation of endogenous oleic acid, whereas¹⁴C from added glucose was uniformly distributed throughout the acyl chain of the fatty acids. These data suggest the existence of metabolically separate pools of acetate and/or sites for de novo synthesis and elongation of acyl chains.