Abstract
PLUM leaves (Prunus domestica) contain sufficient amounts of starch, cellulose, hemicellulose, and pectic substances to recommend them for studies of the biosynthesis and possible inter-relationships of these leaf polysaccharides and their monosaccharide precursors1. Experiments involving photosynthesis by plum leaves in carbon dioxide labelled with carbon-14 and subsequent fractionation of the leaf polysaccharides revealed marked differences, both in the extent to which carbon-14 was incorporated into the different monosaccharides of each fraction, and also in the specific activities of each monosaccharide from different fractions2,3. Further investigations could be facilitated by using leaves relatively richer than plum leaves in any one polysaccharide constituent. There is little information on this point, consequently a diversity of leaves has been examined for polysaccharides (Table 1).
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References
Andrews, P., and Hough, L., J. Chem. Soc., 4476 (1958).
Hough, L., and Pridham, J. B., Nature, 177, 1039 (1956).
Andrews, P., and Hough, L., Biochem. J., 67, 11,P (1957); J. Chem. Soc., 4483 (1958).
Neish, A. C., Can. J. Biochem. Physiol., 36, 187 (1958).
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ANDREWS, P., HOUGH, L. & STACEY, B. Polysaccharide Composition of Leaves. Nature 185, 166–167 (1960). https://doi.org/10.1038/185166a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/185166a0
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