To determine the subcellular distribution of disaturated phosphatidylcholine (DSPC) in lung tissue during perinatal development, fetal rabbits at 24, 26, 28 and 31 (term) days gestation and newborns were studied. Following alveolar lavage, fractions enriched in nuclei-cellular debris, mitochondria, microsomes, surfactant (lamellar bodies) and cytosol were prepared from the residual tissue homogenate, and their DSPC content was determined. The DSPC content of the unfractionated residual lung tissue homogenate progressively and significantly increased during fetal development, rising from 9.09 +/- 0.91 to 17.45 +/- 2.88 mg/g dry lung between 24 days gestation, and term. Between 24 and 26 days gestation the overall increase in tissue DSPC was due to a two-fold increase in the mitochondrial, microsomal and cytosolic pools. Lamellar bodies were first isolable at 26 days gestation. The DSPC content of this fraction increased six-fold (from 0.10 +/- 0.02 to 0.67 +/- 0.15 mg/g dry lung) between 26 and 28 days gestation and a further seven-fold (to 4.63 +/- 1.06 mg/g dry lung) by term, accounting for the overall increase in the tissue homogenate value during this time period. By the first postnatal day, microsomal and cytosolic DSPC increased another two-fold, but no significant change occurred in the other subcellular fractions. Alveolar lavage DSPC progressively increased over the time period studied. While there was no change in the lamellar body DSPC/total PC ratio during fetal development, each of the mitochondrial, microsomal and cytosolic ratios decreased between days 26 and 28 of gestation and then increased at term.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)