Articles
USE OF SHORT-LIVED ISOTOPES TO STUDY CARBON ALLOCATION IN INTACT PLANTS
Article number
835_5
Pages
57 – 64
Language
English
Abstract
The allocation of carbon in plants is dynamically regulated by the supply of photosynthates and the demand of competing sink organs.
The carbon supply of individual organs can be measured non-destructively using the short-lived carbon isotope 11C. Plants of different growth stages were used to investigate the actual carbon partitioning as well as changes in response to plant development or treatments.
At 10 pm in the morning, young wheat and barley plants translocated approximately 28% of recently labelled carbon into the roots as measured 2 h after 11C-CO2 pulse labelling.
There was a decline during the day to about 20% as measured at 2 am.
Wheat plants exposed to drought stress responded with a drop in carbon delivery to the roots whereas, in panicum plants, carbon transport to the roots increased when drought stress commenced.
Experiments performed on individual wheat plants after heading indicated that carbon allocation mainly depended on the development of the grains.
When grain filling started, oscillations in carbon distribution between the ear and the culm were observed.
Experimental treatments like increasing air temperature at the ear caused an immediate increase in carbon import into the ear.
For future experiments, a positron emission tomographic system called PlanTIS is being developed to measure carbon flow into bulky organs with enhanced spatial resolution.
The carbon supply of individual organs can be measured non-destructively using the short-lived carbon isotope 11C. Plants of different growth stages were used to investigate the actual carbon partitioning as well as changes in response to plant development or treatments.
At 10 pm in the morning, young wheat and barley plants translocated approximately 28% of recently labelled carbon into the roots as measured 2 h after 11C-CO2 pulse labelling.
There was a decline during the day to about 20% as measured at 2 am.
Wheat plants exposed to drought stress responded with a drop in carbon delivery to the roots whereas, in panicum plants, carbon transport to the roots increased when drought stress commenced.
Experiments performed on individual wheat plants after heading indicated that carbon allocation mainly depended on the development of the grains.
When grain filling started, oscillations in carbon distribution between the ear and the culm were observed.
Experimental treatments like increasing air temperature at the ear caused an immediate increase in carbon import into the ear.
For future experiments, a positron emission tomographic system called PlanTIS is being developed to measure carbon flow into bulky organs with enhanced spatial resolution.
Authors
G.W. Roeb, M. Dautzenberg, S. Jahnke
Keywords
11C-technique, carbon transport, in vivo measurement, non-invasive method, Triticum aestivum
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