The Adaptive Purpose of Phloem Loading
April 16, 2010| |
It was originally known that the main purpose of phloem loading is to actively transport sugars in long distances, like from the leaves to the shoots, through high hydrostatic pressure movement along the sieve tubes. However, Robert Turgeon of the Department of Plant Biology in Cornell University reexamined the adaptive purpose of phloem loading. Many woody plants, which exhibit the longest distances of solute transport, are loading by diffusion or without the use of energy. Thus, long-distance active transport may not be the primary role of phloem loading.
Based on Turgeon's analyses, phloem loading could be an adaptation of plants in maintaining low amounts of nonstructural carbohydrates (NSCs). Low levels of NSCs would promote plant growth because the condition reduces the risk of feedback inhibition of photosynthesis.
Plant Physiology subscribers may read the full article at http://www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/content/full/152/4/1817.
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