6.

4: Uses of Glucose
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Objectives

• To know that plants require minerals like nitrate and magnesium

• To know the functions of minerals

• To know the uses of glucose produced by photosynthesis

Importance of minerals for plants
• Minerals are added to the soil and also removed by natural processes. They are needed to prepare soils for
agriculture.

• In natural, uncultivated soil, there is a balance between the formation and the loss of minerals
- Addition of minerals to the soil by: 1. flooding rivers
2. decomposition of animal and plant remains
3. breakdown of bed rock by weathering, plant roots, and burrowing
animals
- Removal of minerals from the soil by: 1. uptake by plants to build food molecules
2. leaching as ions dissolve in rainwater running through the soil

• In cultivated soil, level of minerals drop as all plant remains are removed, so fertilizers should be added to ensure
that plants don’t run short of these essential substances
Natural fertilizers: like sewage sludge, animal compost… or artificial fertilizers like NPK fertilizer that contains
nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
Magnesium and Nitrate ions

• Magnesium: - it is absorbed from the soil as magnesium ions (Mg2+).

- it is used to make chlorophyll
- its deficiency causes chlorosis (leaves turn yellow between their veins especially at the
bottom of the plant first), but the roots are normal

• Nitrogen: - it is absorbed from the soil as nitrate ions (NH4+) or ammonium ions
- it is required to form many molecules especially proteins (amino acids and enzymes..)
- its deficiency causes stunted plants with weak stems and yellowing, dying leaves, and the roots
are slightly affected
Uses of glucose
1. Used for energy: energy is released as glucose is broken down by respiration inside the cells to drive the
(oxidation) chemical reactions

2. Stored as starch: because glucose is * a reactive substance (it may get involved in reactions where it is not needed)
(condensation) * soluble in water (it may dissolve in the water in or outside the plant cells, so it
would be lost)
* if dissolved, it increases the concentration of the solution in the cell,
so it causes damage

Starch is a polysaccharide made of many glucose molecules joined together. It is not very reactive and not
very soluble, so it can be made into granules and stored easily in the chloroplasts
 Uses of Glucose
3. Used to make proteins and other organic substances:
* it is used to make sucrose and cellulose (condensation)
* it is used to make fats and oils (reduction)
* it is used to make amino acids that build proteins, by combining to nitrate ions that plants absorb from the
soil by diffusion and active transport through the roots (because nitrogen in the air “78% of the air” is
very unreactive, so it should be supplied as nitrate ions “more reactive”)
* it is used to make chlorophyll by using nitrogen (nitrate ions) and magnesium absorbed from the soil
* it is used to make nucleic acids

4. Used to make sucrose for transport:

because sucrose is small and soluble to be transported to different parts of the plant, but less reactive than
glucose, so it dissolves in the sap in the phloem vessels and transported to the parts that need it. Sucrose is needed for root
growth, shoot growth, fruit growth.

sucrose later is converted back to glucose to be used for energy, to be stored as starch, or to make other
substance needed for growth