Five kinds of 4-demethylsterol were isolated from suspension cultured cells of a liverworth, Marchantia polymorpha. Four 4-demethylsterols among them were analyzed by a capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and 500 MHz ^1H-NMR, and characteri...
Five kinds of 4-demethylsterol were isolated from suspension cultured cells of a liverworth, Marchantia polymorpha. Four 4-demethylsterols among them were analyzed by a capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and 500 MHz ^1H-NMR, and characterized to be avenasterol, 24-methylene-cholesterol, stigmasterol, and campesterol. And the fifth 4-demethylsterol was characterized to be sitosterol by a capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The concentration of the 4-demethylsterols in the cell decreased in order of avenasterol>stigmasterol>24-methylene-cholesterol>campesterol>sitosterol. When carbon skeleton and the oxidation state was compared with those of brassinosteroids, these 4-demethylsterols may be potent biosynthetic precusors of brassinosteroids in the cells.