Galactolipid multibilayers modified with xanthophylls: orientational and diffractometric studies.

Oriented multibilayers of chloroplast galactolipids: monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG) and digalactosyldiacylglycerol (DGDG) modified with violaxanthin and zeaxanthin were examined by X-ray diffractometry and linear dichroism. The results obtained suggest that zeaxanthin, in contrast to violaxanthin, has a significant ordering effect on galactolipid bilayers. The best ordered system consists of DGDG and zeaxanthin. In this case, the angle between the long axis of zeaxanthin molecule and the normal to the plane of bilayers amounts to 9 degrees and system has a periodicity of 61.7 A. The analogous angles in systems MGDG + violaxanthin, MGDG + zeaxanthin and DGDG + violaxanthin are clearly wider (35 degrees, 17 degrees and 28 degrees, respectively) but diffractograms show no distinct maxima.