Calcofluor-white Calcofluor-white Calcofluor-white is a special fluorescent stain that binds strongly to structures containing cellulose and chitin. In plant cell biology research, it is used for the staining of cell walls of both algae and higher plants. It is also useful in medicine and animal biology for the identification of fungi in the tissue, (it binds to the chitin in the cell walls of the fungi). In research, calcofluor-white is also used to stain bud scars of yeast cells because the bud scars have a higher content of chitin, which stains them more than the rest of the cell membrane. Due
Trehalose of hornets and their larvae. Trehalose is the major carbohydrate energy storage molecule used by insects for flight. One possible reason for this is that the glycosidic linkage of trehalose, when acted upon by an insect trehalase, releases two molecules of glucose, which is required for the rapid energy requirements of flight. This is double the efficiency of glucose release from the storage polymer starch, for which cleavage of one glycosidic linkage releases only one glucose molecule. In plants, trehalose is seen in sunflower seeds, moonwort, "Selaginella" plants, and sea algae. Within the fungi, it is prevalent in some mushrooms,