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Glite Dictionary
photosynthate

photosynthate

1 8.9
A type of plant food like sugar that leaves make using sunlight and that plants use for energy, growth, storage
  • noun
  • /ˌfoʊtəʊˈsɪnθeɪt/
  • Specialized
: fotosintetato
  • Farmers often assess the levels of photosynthate in crops to determine their growth and potential yield.
  • new photosynthate

Examples

  • Because of the direct reliance of mycorrhizae on continued allocation of photosynthate from crowns to roots, this mechanism would be the most sensitive of the three to disruption of the plant-root-soil linkage.

    Academic text (1998)

  • Plants produce photosynthate during the process of photosynthesis, which is essential for their energy and growth.

  • The availability of photosynthate in the soil is crucial for the health of surrounding vegetation.

Surface Forms

photosynthate singular
photosynthates plural

Morphology

photosynthate = photosynthesis (semi-transparent) = photo + synth + ate

The form is recognizably tied to photosynthesis and the scientific suffix '-ate', but the clipped stem and specialized meaning make it only partly predictable.

Etymology

The word photosynthate comes from photo- meaning 'light' and synthesis meaning 'putting together', as in photograph and photosynthesis. So photosynthate is the substance (like a sugar) that plants 'make' from light and use for energy or storage.