Investigations of Carbon Transport in Plants

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Abstract
A technique is described which enables several components of the translocation system to be measured routinely, in vivo and simultaneously. Plants are exposed to a 1-min pulse of 11CO2 and the movement of the 11C pulse through the plant followed using an array of scintillation counters. It is possible to estimate the time taken for the 11C to enter the sieve tubes. In addition, the speed of translocation can be obtained from measurements of the arrival of the 11C pulse at different positions along the translocation pathway. The increasing half-width of the pulse as it enters and moves through the sieve tubes gives some indication of the extent of the delays in the different parts of the translocation system. The short half-life of the 11C allows the measurements to be repeated on the same plant several times per day. A technique is discussed whereby data on the movement of 11C could be combined with simultaneous measurements of the rate of uptake of carbon dioxide to provide an estimate of the rate of movement of carbon.

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