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From: bob@bio73.unsw.oz (Robert Stanley Vickery)
Newsgroups: sci.bio
Subject: Re: Plant Sugars (what do leaves make)
Message-ID: <1216@bio73.unsw.oz>
Date: 2 May 89 15:14:51 GMT
References: <17723@cup.portal.com>
Organization: Uni of NSW, Sydney, Australia
Lines: 20

In article 1171 in sci.bio Mark Robert Thorson writes:
>Message-ID: <17723@cup.portal.com>
>I remember reading an old Carolina Biological Supply catalog when I was in
>high school which listed seeds for albino corn and albino tobacco.  These
>plants are dead white because they have no chlorophyll.
>
>To raise one, I believe you had to slice off part of a leaf and attach an
>agar block rich in sugar (or some similar procedure, I am hazy on the details)
>
>I would like to know what kind of sugar or sugars are the best emulation
>of a leaf.  Glucose?  Fructose?  Sucrose?  Or would it make any difference?

Sucrose is the best imitator of most leaves, but glucose may be taken up
more readily by the seedling. Either would work. They would also provide a
nice substrate for bacteria if the set-up is not sterile.

Bob Vickery
School of Biological Science
University of New South Wales
Kensington, NSW, Australia