Carbohydrate and Organic Acid Metabolism with C14 Distribution Affected by Copper in Thatcher Wheat.

Abstract
Organic acids, sugars, and amino acids were determined chromatographically in Thatcher spring wheat grown under short and long nights. There was a marked decrease in organic acids and a simultaneously large increase in sugars of 46-day-old Cu-sufficient plants. Distribution of C14 from C14O2 increased in accordance with the above products formed. Cu-deficient plants did not show these changes. Cu-sufficient plants accumulated less asparagine and aspartic acid than Cu-deficient plants and comparably contained the same, but lesser quantities of other amino acids. The effects of Cu on these end-products of metabolism are illustrated and discussed with reference to other changes which occur in Cu-deficient wheat. The changed sugar and organic acid metabolism was not directly related to head development.