C3/C4 and starch

[Janice M. Glime]

Dear Plant-edders,
  It occurred to me that starch testing might be a good way to reinforce
the concepts of C3 and C4 plants using wheat and corn.  Has anyone done
this?  I have not tried grasses and wonder how difficult it is to get good
starch stains in a leaf with so much sclerenchyma around its veins and (I
am assuming) silica around the bundles.  Does anyone have a working
protocol for demonstrating the position of the starch in these two
species?
Thanks,
Janice (who is revising a course for change from quarters to semesters)
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 Janice M. Glime, Professor  
 Department of Biological Sciences
 Michigan Technological University
 Houghton, MI 49931-1295
 jmglime at mtu.edu
 906-487-2546
 FAX 906-487-3167 
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