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Mon, Aug 10, 09 at 11:49
| I was told by someone that spraying plants (it may have only been with reference to heliconia) with a solution of urea forces stomata to open. However, I cannot find literary confirmation of this allegation on the web. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Was not difficult to find a paper that supports this. Here is an abstract |
Here is a link that might be useful: Stomatal behaviour towards four classes of herbicides as a basis of selectivity to certain weeds and crop plants
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- Posted by struwwelpeter 5 (My Page) on Wed, Aug 12, 09 at 19:10
| No, the paper refers to "urea ... type herbicides" (diuron) which must refer to the molecular structure because diuron contains no urea. Urea is not an herbicide. |
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| Do you have a microscope handy? Would only take an hour or so to test this hypothesis. |
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- Posted by struwwelpeter 5 (My Page) on Thu, Aug 13, 09 at 12:16
| "Do you have a microscope handy? Would only take an hour or so to test this hypothesis." No, do you? You have correctly assumed that I have reagent grade urea. |
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| I have access to microscopes but not the urea. A common experiment we perform in our botany labs is to take a leaf peel and observe stomatal opening/closure under treatments of auxin, 20% sucrose or distilled water. Tradescantia (Spiderwort), Commelina (Dayflowers), Zebrina (Wandering Jew) are all good plants to use for observing stomata. I am only familiar with the effect that solute concentration or hormones have on guard cell turgidity. I suspect that growth/vigor is the primary response of interest when urea is applied to a plant, so finding a primary source for this claim may require looking back quite far in the literature...or conduct the experiment yourself. That is all that I can offer. Perhaps someone will eventually come along with an answer to your question. |
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