Electron microscopy of hydrocarbon production in parthenium argentatum (guayule)

Thesis/Dissertation · Tue Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1977

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5266748· OSTI ID:5266748

Bauer, Thomas E. ^[1]

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1. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

The electron microscope was used to study the biological processes involved in hydrocarbon production. The little desert shrub Guayule (Parthenium argentatum) was selected for study. This shrub can produce hydrocarbons (rubber) in concentrations up to 1/4 of its dry weight. It grows on semi-arid land and has been extensively studied. The potential of Guayule is described in detail. Results of an investigation into the morphology of Guayule at the electron microscope level are given. Experiments, which would allow the biosynthesis of hydrocarbon in Guayule to be followed, were designed. In order to do this, knowledge of the biochemistry of rubber formation was used to select a tracer, mevalonic acid. Mevalonic acid is the precursor of all the terpenoids, a large class of hydrocarbons which includes rubber. It was found that when high enough concentrations of mevalonic acid are administered to seedling Guayule plants, build-ups of metabolized products are found within the chloroplasts of the seedlings. Also, tritium labeled mevalonic acid was used as a precursor, and its metabolic progress was followed by using the technique of electron microscope autoradiography. The results of these experiments also implicated chloroplasts of the Guayule plant in hydrocarbon production. The final task was the development of a system to produce three-dimensional stereo reconstructions of organelles suspected of involvement in hydrocarbon biosynthesis in Guayule. The techniques are designed to reconstruct an object from serial sections of that object. The techniques use stereo imaging both to abstract information for computer processing, and also in the computer produced reconstruction.

• Research Organization: Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 5266748
• Report Number(s): LBL--5688
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
140504* -- Solar Energy Conversion-- Biomass Production & Conversion-- (-1989)
550200 -- Biochemistry
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
ARID LANDS
BIOCHEMISTRY
BIOMASS
BIOSYNTHESIS
CARBOXYLIC ACIDS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMISTRY
DESERTS
ELASTOMERS
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
ENERGY SOURCES
HYDROCARBONS
HYDROXY ACIDS
METABOLISM
METABOLITES
MEVALONIC ACID
MICROSCOPY
NATURAL RUBBER
ORGANIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
PHOTOCHEMICAL REACTIONS
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
PLANTS
POLYMERS
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
RUBBERS
SHRUBS
SYNTHESIS