MICRONUTRIENTS - THEIR FUNCTION IN METABOLISM - MAKING STARCH - THE ROLE OF BORON
Boron activates an enzyme, starch phosphorylase, that has a role in the translocation of sugars and carbohydrates in the plant. Boron thus helps maintain a balance between sugar and starch. Starch phosphorylase is directly related to the regulation of starch production. When the plant runs out of adequate boron it fails to produce starch for necessary root development in some plants, and at the critical fruiting stage may develop poor quality fruit.
We have seen sugar produced in photosynthesis and we have seen some of that sugar used to give energy to the whole growth mechanism. But without building materials to keep the internal plant structure growing and later filling seeds for new factories, we still wouldn't have adequate growth. Some sugar is stored as starch for this building purpose.
Our boron-activated enzyme, starch phosphorylase, produces starch by breaking the energy bond between the phosphorus and sugar, and discarding the phosphorus. Then it unites the sugar molecules in long sub-microscopic chains or threads called starch.
Don't let the antiquated equipment in this factory section fool you. If boron is present our enzyme can spin more than enough starch to keep the plant supplied.
Pick up a couple of spindles of starch and bring them over to this next piece of equipment and let me show you what happens next.
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The Production of Cell Tissue
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Just stop a moment and look at these walls around you. They are composed of long interwoven and interconnected strands called microfibrils which have been woven from smaller strands or cellulose chains, each of which in turn is made up of many long starch threads. The microfibril material is directed to each new plant cell by ingenious growth engineers called hormones.
"Woven" microfibrils form the structural framework of all living materials and can be seen with an electron microscope. Each strand is cemented to the next with calcium pectate, a colloidal substance that gives strength and yet permits the necessary shifting between fibers when the wind moves the plant about. But we can see how important calcium is to the growth process. Also, we should note that potassium keeps these elements moving to the growing points.
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