Pm. Drennan et al., THE OCCURRENCE OF TREHALOSE IN THE LEAVES OF THE DESICCATION-TOLERANTANGIOSPERM MYROTHAMNUS-FLABELLIFOLIUS WELW, Journal of plant physiology, 142(4), 1993, pp. 493-496
Although the disaccharide trehalose predominates in a wide variety of
desiccation-tolerant lower organisms, including some lower vascular pl
ants, it is rare in higher vascular plants. Sucrose is suggested to ha
ve an analogous role to trehalose in stabilizing the membranes of desi
ccation-tolerant seeds and pollen of angiosperms. In the present study
, both sucrose and trehalose were identified by capillary gas chromato
graphy and thin layer chromatography in methanolic extracts of the lea
ves of the desiccation-tolerant angiosperm Myrothamnus flabellifolius
Welw. Levels of sucrose in hydrated leaves were 29.3 +/- 7.5 mg g-1 dr
y weight and those of trehalose 26.0 +/- 7.2 mg g-1 dry weight. In des
iccated leaves trehalose levels increased slightly (34.7 +/- 4.3 mg g-
1 dry weight) in contrast to a marked increase in sucrose levels in de
siccated leaves (56.5 +/- 6.6 mg g-1 dry weight). It is suggested that
the combined sucrose and trehalose contents of the leaves of M. flabe
llifolius are probably sufficient to account for membrane stabilizatio
n in the desiccated state, as explained by the water replacement hypot
hesis.