Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-28
SCIENTISTS HUNT
COMPLEX SECRET
OF CHLOROPHYLL
Substance Providing Green
in Foliage Believed to Be
Base of Life.
TRANSFORMS SUNLIGHT
INTO HEAT ENERGY STORE
Carbon Dioxide and Water Absorb
ed by Plant Used to Build
Up Tissue.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

The Smithsonian Institution and the
fixed nitrogen laboratory of the Depart
ment of Agriculture have just launched
a cooperative research into the nature
and behavior of chlorophYll, the mys-
FERROUS chemical substance which pro-
vides the green color of foliage and
which probably is the keystone Of all
life on earth.
The two organizations have different
ends in view, but both now are con-
cerned with learning all they can about
this extremely complex pigment.
Builds UP Cellulose.
Chlorophyll, in some obscure way. is
able to absorb sunlight and transform
it into heat energy, by which the car
bon dioxide and water absorbed by the
plant from it's environment is used to
build up cellulose or plant tissue, oxy-
gen being released in the process. Mo-
body knows exactly what happens. This
is the only direct way provided by ma
ture Sfor capturing the energy OF the
sun. This energy is stored in the plants.
Animals eat the plants, or devour other
animals that have eaten the plants, and
thus secure this stored-up energy as
sugars. These are burned in the body
providing the energy for life processes.
Again, this captured sunlight may
be retained for millions Of years and
finally utilized in the form Of coal.
the carbon from the bodies Of the
plants, or Oil from the bodies Of ami
mails. Thus the automobile OF today
is propelled by energy created in the
sun in an extremely distant past.
Unable to Make ChlorophylI.
But man never has been able to
make chlorophyll. Its composition re-
mains one of the profoundest secrets
of nature. 1t has been extracted from
the plants. DR.. F. NJ. Schertz of the
Fixed Nitrogen Laboratory has been
able to secure about 100 grams in this
way. 1t is not certain, however. but
that something is lost in the extrac-
ton process. The molecule OF chloro-
phyll exists in two forms. which vary
slightly. One contains SIS atoms OF
carbon, 70 of hydrogen, 5 Of oxygen, 4
of notrogen and l Of magnesium: How
these are combined is not known.
Chemists at the Fixed Nitrogen Lab
oratory believe, however, they are
approaching the point where it will be
possible to study the molecule as
whole.
Their interest is primarily in the
possibility that chlorophyll, or some
varient of it, may be found to act as
a
composition it similar to hemoglobln.
the mysterious chemical substance in
the blood which makes animal life pos
sible. Hemoglobin combines with oxy-
gen and carries 1t to different parts OF
the body in the bloodstream. releasing 1t
where needed. 1t also combines with
carbon monoXide. fact responsible for
many deaths, because when the hemo-
globin molecule is loaded with carbon
monoxide it cannot take on an extra
burden of oxygen. Nitrogen Is similar
gases, which refuse to enter combina-
lions. The chemists feel that sub
stance so similar to hemoglobin as
chlorophyll may unite, under ordinary
temperatures and pressures, with
nitrogen.
No Evidence This Takes Place.
There is no evidence, according to
DR.. C. Iddings of the Fixed Nitrogen
Laboratory, that this actually takes
place. Plants are able to fixate nitro
gen from the atmosphere in some way
and this seems the most likely lead.
Nitrogen is one of the most abundant
elements and essential to plant growth.
1t is difficult to obtain from the at
mosphere. and probably plants receive
most of their nitrogen supply from the
soil. where it is placed In the form
of nitrateS.
Fixed nitrogen laboratory workers,
however, have found one plant which
in some way combine the f1xation OF
nitrogen and the photosynthesis process
by which sugars are built up through
the release of oxygen by action OF sun
light. This is the common blue-green
algae which is found in soils through
out the world and Is common In all
fresh-water streams in the form OF a
greenish scum. 1t apparently Is able to
live on a purely mineral medium with
no nitrogen and no source OF carbo-
hydrates. The nitrogen evidently Is
taken directly from the atmosphere,
although whether this Is by the me-
dunn of cholorophyll or some variation
is unknown.
This may explain, it is claimed. why
some soils are rich in nitrogen for no
obvious reason. Further studies are
planned to get at the bottom OF the
blue-green algae nitrogen fiXation
process. The other common medium OF
nitrogen fixation in the soil Is by the
action of bacteria on the roots OF ie-
guminous plants, producing noouleS
which have this faculty.
May Not Be Commercially Feasible.
Plant fixation of nitrogen even If 1t
can be DUPLICATED in the laboratory, the
chemists point out, may not prove COM
mercially feasible, but the research is
certain to yield results in unexpected
quarters. Derivatives of chlorophyll. for
| the most part worked out In Germany,
already have considerable commercial
importance. Chlorophyll combined with
copper supplies the green color of some
forms of gasoline now on the market
and the pigment in another form is
proving of considerable Importance In
medicine. 1t is effective in some forms
of anemia. The same results would not
be obtained by eating greens because
| the chlorophyll in the plant is sur
| rounded by a cellulose structure which
! i= not dissolved by the stomach Juices.
| The research is being pursued by or
ganic chemists. physicists working to
determine the physical structure Of the