CHEMICAL MODELS FOR PLANT WAX MORPHOGENESIS.

Chambers, T. C.; Ritchie, I. M.; Booth, Margaret A.

Evidence from recrystallization and surface diffusion studies is presented which suggests that the patterns of leaf cuticular wax deposits are mainly a function of the wax chemical composition. Wax probably arrives at the cuticular surface in a solvent which subsequently evaporates. Surface diffusion across the cuticle is not believed to contribute significantly to the wax growth process. Most of the compounds which comprise the wax, form plates or sheet-like structures when crystallized from solution. In eucalypt leaf waxes, the naturally occurring plate waxes appear to be associated with the polar constituents of the wax. Natural waxes which occur as tubes probably contain a mixture of non-polar compounds.

MORPHOGENESIS; EMBRYOLOGY; DIFFUSION; PHYSICS; EUCALYPTUS; MYRTACEAE

New Phytologist, 1976, Vol 77, Issue 1, p43

0028-646X

Academic Journal

10.1111/j.1469-8137.1976.tb01499.x