leucophyll
English
Alternative forms
- leukophyll
Etymology
leuco- + -phyll
Noun
leucophyll (uncountable)
- (biochemistry) A colourless substance which was hypothesised to be a precursor compound of chlorophyll.
- 1963, E. M. Senchenkova, “V. N. Lyubimenko's Studies of Chlorophyll and their Modern Development”, in Israel Program for Scientific Translations, transl., Life Phenomena: A Historical Survey, page 134-135:
- Fischer's observations confirmed Lyubimenko's opinion that protochlorophyll represents an oxidised form of chlorophyll arising as a by-product during synthesis. Lyubimenko assumed that the first stage of chlorophyll synthesis is oxidation of the chlorophyll precursor, i.e., the hypothetical leucophyll. [...]
The principal stages of initial chlorophyll biosynthesis are the condensation of pyrrole compounds with free alpha-positions, resulting in the formation of a more complex precursor of chlorophyll, i.e., a colorless leuco-compound corresponding to leucophyll. Oxidation of leucophyll leads to the formation of protochlorophyll.
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Usage notes
The term does not refer to a specific chemical compound; it was used at a time when the biosynthesis of chlorophyll was not fully understood.
See also
- etiolin
- protochlorophyllide
References
- Henry Watts (1868-1881) A Dictionary of Chemistry