On the specificity of sucrose for the growth of excised tomato roots

The growth and respiration rate of excised tomato roots was determined using the following sugars as substrate: sucrose, maltose, raffinose, glucose, α-methylglucoside, fructose, β-methylfructoside, cellobiose, trehalose, melibiose, melezitose, turanose, palatinose, and inulobiose. The ability of these sugars to inhibit the growth of roots in sucrose and the ability of the roots to hydrolyze the oligosaccharides were also determined. The results are discussed in terms of the possible limiting factors for growth on different substrates.