Lets us tell pears from apples? That's the only use I can think of.
Sclereids are usually for shape, structure, or support, but they're
not really doing much of that in a modern cultivated pear. Perhaps a
pear ancestor had enough of them to protect the seeds somewhat. Or
some future pear might have been destined to have more, had we not
intervened and selected for big juicy fruit instead...
Can you tell it's getting late?
Monique Reed
"Bohmfalk, John" wrote:
>> Esteemed and much more knowledgeable colleagues,
>> In botany lab, we did a phloroglucinol staining of pear to visualize the
> sclerids. A student asked a rather impertinent question about the function
> of these stone cells. I have not a clue what their role is. Any hypotheses
> or ideas or known role?
>> Thanks.
> John
>> Dr. John Bohmfalk
> Biology Department
> Hastings College
> Hastings, NE
>jbohmfalk at hastings.edu> (402) 461-7470
>> ____________________
> "Take interest, I implore you, in those sacred dwellings called
> laboratories. Demand that they be multiplied, that they be adorned. These
> are the temples of the future, temples of well-being and of
> happiness."Louis Pasteur
>> Dr. John Bohmfalk
> Biology Department
> Hastings College
> Hastings, NE
>jbohmfalk at hastings.edu> (402) 461-7470
>> ____________________
> "Take interest, I implore you, in those sacred dwellings called
> laboratories. Demand that they be multiplied, that they be adorned. These
> are the temples of the future, temples of well-being and of
> happiness."Louis Pasteur
>> ---