Evening star., 1948-12-08
| Stars, Men and Atoms
Pure Substance Isolated
Called Keystone Of All Life
Carnegie Institution Reports Results
of Studies on 'Protochlorophylp

Carnegie Institution Reports Results
of Studies on 'Protochlorophyll
By Thomas r. Henry
Isolation in pure form Of substance which
Is one of the keystones Of all life on earth
has been accomplished by Carnegie Institu.
ton of Washington biologists.
Extraction of the elusive "protochlorophyll
was announced in the annual report presented
to the trustees today by DR.. Vanevar Bush.
president of the institution .".
1t enables biologists to 60 q step deeper into
the basic mechanisms Of life itself. 1t Is
well known that all life on earth depends
basically upon the process known as photo
synthesis- the building up Of starches and
sugars out Of hydrogen and carbon by making
use Of the energy OF sunshine. This is pos.
sible because Of a complex material known as
chlorophyll the green coloring matter In
foliage.
Basic Energy Food"
These starches and sugars not only make
possible the growth of the plant itself but
provide the basic energy food for all ami
mails. From louise to man. these either must
eat plants or devour other animals which
have eaten plants.
It long has been known, however, that the
all-important chlorophyl stands a long way
from the beginning Of the process. 1t is built
up itself out Of something that has gone be-
fore, and the next lower step is the newly
isolated protochlorophyll.
The isolation is of particular significance
since at present one of the major objectives Of
research with the exploding atoms produced
in the Atomic Energy Commission plants is to
learn the precise details Of the photosynthetic
process. Ability to reproduce it might make
it possible for man to create his own food
instead of depending entirely on nature.
With the protochlorophyll isolation the Car
negie scientists now are studying the processes
by which it is turned into all important
chlorophyll under varying conditions Of light
and darkness.
The Carnegie scientists also are making an
intensive study Of the substances making up
both the green and yellow plant pigments.
These are the same, they have found, through
out nature, but show slight differences in
amounts between different families Of plants.
From this study practical result already at
hand Is means Of determining how plants
are related to each other.
-
A long step toward the creation Of self
perpetuating hybrid grasses has been made by
botanists of the institution, the report says
This would be an agricultural accomplish
ment of the first magnitude-in the same gen.
eral field as the production Of hybrid corn,
which essentially has doubled the maize crop
Of this country t
For several years the Carnegie botanists, Or.
Jens Clausen and his associates Of the Division
of Plant Physiology, have been crossing q wide
variety Of grass types of the same general fam
lily as Kentucky blue grass. They have obtained
several superior types, especially for growing
under range conditions.
The difficulty came in fixing these new
strains. Grass hardly can be cultivated CROP
It must make its own way in the world. It Is
fertilized by wind-carried rollen. The likelihood
of an improved strain persisting In nature more
than generation or so seemed quite remote.
10000 Seedlings Used.
DR.. Clausen and his associates, however, have
found that assexual reproducing forms tend to
arise after the third generation Since there
no longer Is the possibility Of crossing, the
strains may be expected to remain pure indeh.
nitely.
The division now is working with more than
10000 hybrid seedlings.
These will be planted under wide variety
Of climatic conditions in order to select the
lines best suited for different environments.
Cooperating with the institution in this work
is the Agriculture Department.
Already 19 hybrids, which seemed particu.
larly suitable for the Eastern Mediterranean,
have been supplied to the government Of
Trans-Jordan. The forage problem in this
region has been becoming increasingly difficult.
Possibility Of developing range grasses which
will successfully. resist the periodic droughts,
of the Western plains region b kept in mind.
- e
Evolution still has limitless possibilities.
This is shown by crucial experiment re-
ported by DR.. c. Stacy French, director of the
Plant Biology Division.
Carnegie botanists found peculiar variety
of wild rose, which has four subvarieties.
Each grows and fourishes in a widely differ
ent environment from all the others. Each,
apparently, has developed hereditary adjust
ment to the surroundings in which 1t is most
prosperous. Each differs somewhat In ap-
pearance.
But all four varieties carry all the genes, or
units Of heredity, in common. For. the one
which grows in high, cold mountains those
hereditary qualities essential for growth in a
warm, humid lowland have been temporarily
suppressed.
Crosses Show Hardihood.
Dr. French and his associates found, how
ever, that when crosses are made the quiescent
genes, each linked to others determining the
appearance Of the plant reappear in an almost
infinite number Of combinations. Often the
crosses show hardihood not found in any
Of the parents.
Presumably the same laws Of nature apply
to all living things, from wild roses to men.
less, but they are held in check by geographical
isolation of the parents ready to appear under
the right circumstances.
"A conclusion to be drawn" DR.. French
says, "is that many possible lines of evolution
are still untried in nature. Evolution is, there
fore, continuous process that has by no
means reached its ultimate limits