Plants Sugar Transport System Critical for Global Warming

Plants perform photosynthesis and produce sugars which diffuse in the phloem and polymerize to form complex sugars meant for storage. A study by Turgeon and McCaskill on a genetically engineered purple mullein (Verbascum phoeneceum L.) showed that when the two genes involved with polymerizing sucrose were silenced, sugars do not polymerize and get stored. Thus, the plant photosynthetic rate slows down as well as the carbon dioxide intake.

This theory is being investigated by the research group for the possibility of increasing phloem loading and polymerization of sugars so that there is a continuous carbon dioxide intake. With the increasing carbon dioxide concentration in the air resulting to global warming, development of plants with increased phloem loading could be one step in alleviating this problem. Plants with high sugar content on the other hand can be used for ethanol production.

For details, see the article at: http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Dec07/McCaskillPhloem.kr.html