Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Phloem and Sugar Transport

Phloem and Sugar Transport

Like many living organisms, plants have tissues that specialize in specific plant functions. For example, shoots are well adapted to rapid growth, while roots are structured to acquire resources efficiently. However, sugar production is primarily restricted to the photosynthetic cells that reside in the leaves of angiosperm plants. Sugar and other resources are transported from photosynthetic tissues to other specialized tissues by a process called translocation.

Sugars as Energy Storage Molecules

Sugars as Energy Storage Molecules

Sugar (a simple carbohydrate) metabolism (chemical reactions) is a classic example of the many cellular processes that use and produce energy. Living things consume sugar as a major energy source because sugar molecules have considerable energy stored within their bonds. Consumed carbohydrates have their origins in photosynthesizing organisms like plants. During photosynthesis, plants use the energy of sunlight to convert carbon dioxide gas into sugar molecules, like glucose. Because this...

The Roles of Bacteria and Fungi in Plant Nutrition

The Roles of Bacteria and Fungi in Plant Nutrition

Plants have the impressive ability to create their own food through photosynthesis. However, plants often require assistance from organisms in the soil to acquire the nutrients they need to function correctly. Both bacteria and fungi have evolved symbiotic relationships with plants that help the species to thrive in a wide variety of environments.

Primary Production

Primary Production

The total amount of energy acquired by primary producers in an ecosystem is called gross primary production (GPP). However, of this energy, producers use some for metabolic processes, and some is lost as heat, decreasing the amount of energy available to the next trophic level. The remaining usable amount of energy is called the net primary productivity (NPP). In terrestrial ecosystems, NPP is driven by climate, while light penetration and nutrient availability drive NPP in aquatic ecosystems.

C4 Pathway and CAM

C4 Pathway and CAM

Most plants use the C3 pathway for carbon fixation. However, some plants, such as sugar cane, corn, and cacti that grow in hot conditions, use alternative pathways to fix carbon and conserve energy loss due to photorespiration. Photorespiration is the process that occurs when the oxygen concentration is high. Under such conditions, the rubisco enzyme in the Calvin cycle binds O2 instead of CO2, which halts photosynthesis and consumes energy.
C4 Pathway
The C4 pathway is used by plants such as...

The Calvin Benson Cycle

The Calvin Benson Cycle

Ribulose 1,5- bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCo) is a critical enzyme that catalyzes carbon dioxide assimilation during photosynthesis. However, it is an inefficient enzyme, having an extremely slow catalytic rate. A typical enzyme can process about a thousand molecules per second; however, RuBisCo fixes only around three-carbon dioxides per second. Photosynthetic cells compensate for this slow rate by synthesizing very high amounts of RuBisCo, making it the most abundant single...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Coral metabolome quality and contaminant loads track human land use.

Nature communications·2026

Same author

Ciliary flow and morphology shape mass transport at the surface and within gastrovascular cavities of black corals.

Communications biology·2026

Same author

Sulfide-oxidizing potential and hypersalinity tolerance strategies in salt-crust covered coastal microbial mats.

The ISME journal·2026

Same author

Gene expression landscapes driving early life stages of the keystone seagrass Posidonia oceanica.

Plant cell reports·2026

Same author

Basal gland localization and focal distribution of OLFM4-expressing cells in increasing severity of gastric intestinal metaplasia.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

Potential of Clinical Care-Collected Gut Biopsies for Advancing Personalised Medicine in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

United European gastroenterology journal·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 24, 2025

Multipronged Phenotyping Approaches to Characterize Sugarcane Root Systems

Multipronged Phenotyping Approaches to Characterize Sugarcane Root Systems

Published on: August 17, 2022

Sugars dominate the seagrass rhizosphere.

E Maggie Sogin^1,2, Dolma Michellod³, Harald R Gruber-Vodicka³

¹Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany. esogin@ucmerced.edu.

Nature Ecology & Evolution

|May 2, 2022

Summary

Seagrasses like Posidonia oceanica release sugars into their root zone. Under low oxygen, plant compounds prevent microbes from consuming these sugars, leading to high concentrations.

More Related Videos

Single-throughput Complementary High-resolution Analytical Techniques for Characterizing Complex Natural Organic Matter Mixtures

Single-throughput Complementary High-resolution Analytical Techniques for Characterizing Complex Natural Organic Matter Mixtures

Published on: January 7, 2019

Assembly and Quantification of Co-Cultures Combining Heterotrophic Yeast with Phototrophic Sugar-Secreting Cyanobacteria

Assembly and Quantification of Co-Cultures Combining Heterotrophic Yeast with Phototrophic Sugar-Secreting Cyanobacteria

Published on: December 27, 2024

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Sep 24, 2025

Multipronged Phenotyping Approaches to Characterize Sugarcane Root Systems

Multipronged Phenotyping Approaches to Characterize Sugarcane Root Systems

Published on: August 17, 2022

Single-throughput Complementary High-resolution Analytical Techniques for Characterizing Complex Natural Organic Matter Mixtures

Single-throughput Complementary High-resolution Analytical Techniques for Characterizing Complex Natural Organic Matter Mixtures

Published on: January 7, 2019

Assembly and Quantification of Co-Cultures Combining Heterotrophic Yeast with Phototrophic Sugar-Secreting Cyanobacteria

Assembly and Quantification of Co-Cultures Combining Heterotrophic Yeast with Phototrophic Sugar-Secreting Cyanobacteria

Published on: December 27, 2024

Area of Science:

Marine biology
Biogeochemistry
Plant-microbe interactions

Background:

Seagrasses are vital carbon sinks, but their rhizosphere interactions remain unclear.
Terrestrial carbon sequestration relies on soil microbes, unlike marine systems.

Purpose of the Study:

Investigate carbon cycling in seagrass rhizospheres.
Understand the role of microorganisms in seagrass carbon sequestration.

Main Methods:

Measured sugar and phenolic compound concentrations in the Posidonia oceanica rhizosphere.
Analyzed microbial gene expression for sugar and phenolic degradation.
Assessed microbial consumption of sucrose under varying oxygen and phenolic conditions.

Main Results:

Posidonia oceanica excretes high concentrations (µM) of sucrose into its rhizosphere.
Phenolic compounds from P. oceanica inhibit microbial sucrose consumption under low oxygen.
Microbial degradation of sucrose is limited to specific taxa also degrading phenolics.

Conclusions:

Plant-derived phenolics under low oxygen enable labile molecule accumulation in aquatic rhizospheres.
This mechanism may be widespread across different marine plant species.
Rhizosphere processes significantly influence seagrass carbon sequestration potential.