Four phospholipids are present in a mixture, with each phospholipid having a dif

Question

Four phospholipids are present in a mixture, with each phospholipid having a different length for its hydrocarbon tails:

Phosphatidylcholine (PC): composed of C18 lipid tails
Phosphatidylethanolamine (PE): composed of C16 lipid tails
Phosphatidylinositol (PI): composed of C12 lipid tails
Phosphatidylserine (PS): composed of C20 lipid tails

If this mixture of phospholipids is resolved on a thin-layer chromatography (TLC) plate, what will be the order of the phospholipids on the plate at the end of the experiment, from closest to the solvent front to closest to the origin? Assume that the length of the phospholipid tails is the primary determining factor in the experiment.

A. PS, PI, PC, and finally PE B. PE, PC, PI, and finally PS C. PC, PS, PI, and finally PE D. PI, PE, PC, and finally PS

Explanation / Answer

On thin layer chromatography (TLC) plate, the phospholipids separate depending on lipid tails composed of number of carbons. The phospholipid with hydrocarbon tail with less number of carbons separates first and high number of carbon at last. Thus, the order of phospholipid separation on TLC is phosphatidylionositol(PI), Phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylserine (PS). The option D is correct.

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