Pine trees carry sugar in sieve cells, which have no nucleus. Albuminous cells are the helpers that keep them going.
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Albuminous cells (say it: al-BYOO-min-us) live in the food pipes of pine trees and other cone-bearing trees. Scientists also call them Strasburger cells, after Eduard Strasburger, a scientist who studied plant cells long ago.
They are small, boxy, living cells with a nucleus. They often sit in rows, right up against the long sieve cells that carry sugar.
Press Light up the helpers on the 3D model to find the albuminous cells.
A sieve cell has no nucleus, so it can't run itself. Albuminous cells are joined to it by tiny tunnels through their walls. Through these tunnels they help supply what the sieve cell needs, and they help move sugar in and out.
They do a job a lot like the companion cells of flowering plants. But they usually don't come from the same parent cell as their sieve cell.
Press Help out to watch the helpers send supplies into the sieve cell.
Albuminous cells and their sieve cells are a team. When a sieve cell stops working, its albuminous helpers die too.