| Popis: |
The role and metabolism of sucrose in cultured tassels of Zea mays cv. Oh43 were investigated. Although cultured tassels required 0.3 M (10% w/v) sucrose for "normal" development, they consumed less than 50% of it by day 21 of culture. The substitution of sucrose with mannitol inhibited both tassel growth and spikelet development. Sucrose served, therefore, mainly as an energy source and not as an osmoticum for cultured tassels during the first 15 days. However, from 15 days of culture onwards, tassels were shown to be capable of CO2 fixation and consumed negligible amounts of sucrose until day 21 of culture. Nevertheless, the presence of sucrose was shown to be essential for differentiation of "normal" spikelets. |
