Chillard's White Angel Leaf Update

[Jitterbugdude]

Here it is: The first photo shows the mud lugs white. This picture was taken yesterday and today the lower leaves are completely white. These are white!, not the pale yellow that mud lugs get.




Here is another picture of the same tobacco planted in a different location in my garden. It is green just like any other tobacco.




The white leafed plant was planted in a clay, nutrient deficient soil whereas the green leafed one was planted in a fertile soil.
So far I have two thoughts. (1) The mutation might express itself in a nutrient deficient soil more readily that in fertile soil or (2) The white plant was just a random occurrence from the seeds I planted. In other words, of all the seeds harvested only a small percent actually carried the trait over from the mother plant.

More updates as time goes on.

 

[USHOG]

Low nitrogen levels will allow the leaf to cure easier and turn a lighter color than leafs with extra nitrogen in them. I do not know if this applies to your plant but I have seen the same thing within the same varieties

Very nice looking plant

 

[FmGrowit]

Just be sure to make some seeds just in case it's a true mutant. My guess is you'll have to flue cure it to lock the color in. Otherwise it will likely just turn brown as it cures.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Already bagged Don. Good point about flue curing. I have a few leaves air curing in the barn right now. Assuming I get more I'll flue cure (or maybe sun cure) them.

 

[chillardbee]

I sun cured them last year. they were the lightest coloured leaf that I've seen so far in my years of grown. the colour is like the lightest version of the burley buck skin brown/beige. would like to see what colour they turn in simple air curing which is what I'll do with them this year.

My plants are still fairly green but the tips are starting to whiten up.

 

[chillardbee]

on another note, let them go as long as possible before harvesting. last year I systematically was harvesting down the rows just to keep things in order and these plants were at the mid point of the patch, probably just at the best point in their growth to harvest actually. some of the top leaf had a tinge of green but white for most of the plant.

 

[deluxestogie]

The relatively normal green, active leaf, together with the white senescent leaf suggest to me a defect in carotenoid production or breakdown. As you know, normal carotenoids are the yellow pigment that is hidden by the green of chlorophyll, so long as the leaf is actively photosynthesizing, but is revealed once the chlorophyll breaks down.

Since carotenoid pigments serve to prevent oxidative damage to plants that would otherwise result from constant sun exposure.

In the absence of carotenoids, this excess light energy could destroy proteins, membranes, and other molecules.

http://science.jrank.org/pages/5303/Plant-Pigment-Carotenoids.html

Since there are many different carotenoids (carotenes, lycopene, luteins, etc.), I would guess that this defect would have to be partial, in a plant that otherwise grew normally.

Given that some of Chillardbee's plants showed this trait, and others did not, it seems that this is likely a plant that is heterozygous for a recessive trait. It may be that the homozygotes for that trait are simply not viable. The result in the offspring would be 25% normal homozygotes, 50% heterozygotes (the white leaf plants), and 25% defect homozyotes (which, if non-viable, would never be seen)--so, 1/3 normal plants, 2/3 white leaf plants. The normal plants would never produce white leaf offspring, while the white leaf offspring would again produce 1/3 normal v. 2/3 white leaf.

If, on the other hand, the white leaf plants are homozygous for a non-fatal trait, then we would expect all their offspring to show the defect (since the normal allele is not present in the plant's genome).

Also, as USHOG suggests, the defect may only be revealed under certain environmental conditions.

This is all a guess on my part. It may require segregation of seed collected from the all-green v. white leaf plants, and another season or two to see if that bears out.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

I just walked the garden, and paid particular attention to the Chillard's White Angel Leaf (8 of them). Although it is not unusual for the bottommost leaves to begin to die early, what I observed on all 8 plants is similar to JBD's photo. Instead of carotenoid yellow showing through as the chlorophyll breaks down, these senescing leaves fade from green to light green, to creamy green, and on to just white. There's just no yellow there. The leaf stems are the same--either a light green, or pure white.

If Jitterbugdude is planning to flue-cure some, then I won't plan to try that, since it would involve altering and abusing my new kiln. This is turning out to be an interesting mystery.

Bob

 

[Matty]

In my experience white leaf is a nutrient deficiency. This photo is from last year, burley in back, virginia up front. All the bottom leaf was nearly paper white and air cured to a light beige color.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Yes, a nutrient deficiency will cause pale/white leaves but not on the entire plant. There typically will be a graduated shift in color from top to bottom. The reason we are so interested in this variety is the entire plant turns white. Besides, this variety is being grown in 3 vastly different locations with (so far) the same white leaves. If my two in my fertilized garden turn white we can safely rule out any kind of nutritional deficiency as the reason.

 

[Matty]

Ah, I see. Interesting subject, I'll be sure to follow.

 

[ProfessorPangloss]

The relatively normal green, active leaf, together with the white senescent leaf suggest to me a defect in carotenoid production or breakdown. As you know, normal carotenoids are the yellow pigment that is hidden by the green of chlorophyll, so long as the leaf is actively photosynthesizing, but is revealed once the chlorophyll breaks down.

Since carotenoid pigments serve to prevent oxidative damage to plants that would otherwise result from constant sun exposure.


Since there are many different carotenoids (carotenes, lycopene, luteins, etc.), I would guess that this defect would have to be partial, in a plant that otherwise grew normally.

Given that some of Chillardbee's plants showed this trait, and others did not, it seems that this is likely a plant that is heterozygous for a recessive trait. It may be that the homozygotes for that trait are simply not viable. The result in the offspring would be 25% normal homozygotes, 50% heterozygotes (the white leaf plants), and 25% defect homozyotes (which, if non-viable, would never be seen)--so, 1/3 normal plants, 2/3 white leaf plants. The normal plants would never produce white leaf offspring, while the white leaf offspring would again produce 1/3 normal v. 2/3 white leaf.

If, on the other hand, the white leaf plants are homozygous for a non-fatal trait, then we would expect all their offspring to show the defect (since the normal allele is not present in the plant's genome).

Also, as USHOG suggests, the defect may only be revealed under certain environmental conditions.

This is all a guess on my part. It may require segregation of seed collected from the all-green v. white leaf plants, and another season or two to see if that bears out.

Bob

i was thinking about this yesterday, and I second the possible carotenoid deficiency because it wouldn't kill the plant (unlike the chlorophyll deficiency in my albino corn, which killed it last week). In high school biology, I did a project to catalog the pigments found in different plant species. We used ether as a solvent, mashed the leaves, and then put the resulting goo to a filter strip and the pigments separated out. From there, you can tell basically which ones are present and in relative amounts.

 

[deluxestogie]

Filter paper chromatography is easy enough to do (even a coffee filter cone would work), but requires a set of "knowns" in order to specifically identify the migration bands.

Bob

 

[ProfessorPangloss]

Well, what is the heritage of the "white angel"? If it was, say, Virginia, someone could process some of the predecessor and then compare the two to see if there's a noticeable difference in pigmentation.

next step is wondering how the pigments affect taste and other characteristics.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

next step is wondering how the pigments affect taste and other characteristics.

The "original" White tobacco, White Burley was discovered in the 1860's. It sold like hotcakes at inflated prices due to it's supposed mildness. But it might have just been the novelty of a white leaf tobacco. The White Burley eventually disappeared as near as I can tell somewhere around the 1900-1920's.

 

[ProfessorPangloss]

The "original" White tobacco, White Burley was discovered in the 1860's. It sold like hotcakes at inflated prices due to it's supposed mildness. But it might have just been the novelty of a white leaf tobacco. The White Burley eventually disappeared as near as I can tell somewhere around the 1900-1920's.

...which logically follows Bob's theory of the recessive gene. Blue eyes and red hair are like that, and both are diminishing in quantity for the same reasons. Maybe Chillardbee is really onto a winner here. Is this a burley?

 

[chillardbee]

your guess is as good as mine, it was supposed to be izmir but clearly it wasn't.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

A little update: I air cured 2 leaves and they turned out light brown as Chilardbee had noted. I then sun cured 2 more and they turned out light brown too. I then cured 2 more leaves in the sun. I'm not sure what method this is called but I primed 2 white leaves and immediatly placed them flat onto the ground . The sun baked them dry to an off white color. I smoked these in a pipe over the weekend. Very tasty, burned quick like a flue cured. Not sure what to make of the flavor (very mild) but I'll probably grow more next year.

 

[deluxestogie]

I then cured 2 more leaves in the sun. I'm not sure what method this is called but I primed 2 white leaves and immediately placed them flat onto the ground . The sun baked them dry to an off white color.

Do you have a photo of the off-white cured leaves?

That suggests that flue-curing may fix the white color. I just filled my kiln today, for a 1 month run of 2014 leaf. So it won't be available for flue-curing for at least a month. I may be able to snag a few white leaves at that point (August 20).

Bob

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Bob, I do not. I will be picking 3 leaves in a few days and I will subject them to the sun burn in method. I'll take a few pics when complete