Category: Uncategorized
-
What are plastids? You’ve almost certainly heard about chloroplasts, which are the compartments inside plant cells that perform photosynthesis. They’re small, green, and plant cells have lots of them! Well, in tissues that lie above ground, anyway. Chloroplasts look like this: Figure 1: Chloroplasts inside tomato pericarp cells at 400X magnification (and further enlarged). What…
-
Prelude: While I was moving some tomato plants around earlier this week, I couldn’t help but notice that they felt a little… prickly. Ouch! Close examination of tomato plants reveals that they are covered in tiny hair-like structures, which give them this texture (Figure 1). The next time you see a plant, you might also…
-
Supertall This week I’d like to draw your attention to these two sunflower varieties I have growing on my deck (Figure 1). Bear in mind that all of these plants belong to the same species of sunflower, Helianthus annuus. The pot on the left contains two individuals of the cultivar “Lemon Queen,” while the pot…
-
What are anthocyanins? Anthocyanins are a family of pigments found in many plants that confer red/purple/blue coloration. While there are many kinds of anthocyanin pigments, they all share the same core structure consisting of a flavylium backbone (highlighted in Fig. 1 below) [13]. This backbone is then modified to give a variety of pigments with…
