Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site agrigene.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!think!harvard!uwvax!astroatc!nicmad!agrigene!buchbind
From: buchbind@agrigene.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.rumor
Subject: the Biology of Killer Apples
Message-ID: <279@agrigene.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 14-Feb-86 11:30:37 EST
Article-I.D.: agrigene.279
Posted: Fri Feb 14 11:30:37 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 16-Feb-86 05:56:09 EST
References: <3012@pesnta.UUCP> <162@atux01.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: Agrigenetics Madison,Wi.
Lines: 29

> 
> Believe it or not, I know two people who regularly eat an entire 
> apple, core and all.  They have been doing it for years, and
> plan to do it tomorrow if they are still alive.

	My father has been doing it for years.  When I was a kid he
used to wierd me out by handing me nothing but the stem and asking me
to throw it out.
	An apple has evolved/was designed by God (take your pick) to
accomplish the following: disseminated viable seeds.  The flesh of
the fruit is tasty so that the seeds will get eaten.  The seeds are
covered by a seed coat that can survive passage through a gut.  The
seed is then "deposited" by the herbivore at some distance from the
maternal tree.  A problem to be solved is how to keep the herbivore
from chewing on the seed, which contains a lot of nutritious protein,
as chewing tends to lower the viability levels to zero.  The solution
to this problem, used by many plants, is to store a substance (e.g.
laetrile, found in the stone fruits and almonds) in the seed that can
release cyanide.  If the cells are disrupted an enzyme comes in
contact with this cyanogenic substance which catalyzes the release of
the poison cyanide.  Cyanide is also poisonous to plants, so it must
be stored in this nonpoisonous form; after the seed has been chewed it
no longer matters to the plant that that cyanide kills apple seeds.
You must also remember that many herbivores that eat apples are small
(e.g. birds) and eat a lot of apples when they are in season.
-- 
Barry Buchbinder					 (608)221-5000
Agrigenetics Corporation; 5649 East Buckeye Road; Madison WI 53716 USA
{{harvard|topaz|seismo}!uwvax!|decvax|ihnp4}!nicmad!agrigene!buchbind