Inter-cellular sucrose transport in leaves of gymnosperms

Gymnosperms, especially pine trees, form a major population in the Northern hemisphere and are important for soft wood production. The tallest trees on earth, the Coast Redwoods, are gymnosperms and it is not clear how sucrose is transported over these enormous distances.

 

The idea with this master project is to use newest technologies to uncover the mechanism behind long-distance sucrose transport in gymnosperms. Results will benefit the general understanding of how plants transport sugars.

 

The basis for this approach forms Laser-microdissection microscopy. This technique
enables clear separation of the different cell types in needles. This is especially
important because of the complex anatomy of needles with many specialized
cell types.

 

Please read detailed project description.