The Role of Sucrose in Regulation of Trunk Tissue Development in Betula pendula Roth

Abstract

Comparative ultrastructural analysis of the conducting and non-conducting phloem cells in the common straight-grained silver birch (Betula pendula var. pendula) and the Karelian birch (B. pendula var. carelica) with abnormal patterned wood was carried out, leading to the conclusion that there is an elevated sucrose content in the conducting phloem of the Karelian birch. A connection between sucrose levels and formation of abnormalities in the development of conducting tissues in the Karelian birch trunk was surmised. Experiments in which exogenous sucrose was applied to the silver birch trunk tissues have demonstrated the effects of different sucrose concentrations (0 g L−1, 10 g L−1, 25 g L−1, 50 g L−1, 100 g L−1) on the formation of xylem and phloem structural elements, and they yielded the types of tissue development that correspond to the abnormal tissue development in the Karelian birch trunk.