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Plant and Cell Physiology, 1991, Vol. 32, No. 3 335-342
© 1991

Article

Growth and Sink to Source Transition in Developing Leaves of Sugarbeet1

Lynne H. Pitcher and Jaleh Daie2

Department of Crop Science, Lipman Hall P.O. Box 231, Cook College, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903-0231, U.S.A.

2To whom correspondence should be addressed

The growth and sink to source transition (cessation of assimilate import) in light-grown leaves were compared to those of dark-grown leaves. Darkening chambers were placed over sugarbeet (Beta vulgaris L.) plants so that new leaves emerged and grew in the dark. New leaves emerged at 1.8 day intervals, regardless of the light conditions. The dark-grown leaves were reversibly retarded in overall growth; they were unable to photosynthesize, but attained photosyn-thetic, vein loading and export capacity after exposure to sufficient amount and duration of light. Despite the inability to fix carbon, dark-grown leaves showed dry weight gain. The increase in the dry weight, however, was localized in the petiole and major veins and not in the laminar tissue. Despite metabolic differences in the two leaf types, sink to source transition occurred in about a week in both light- and dark-grown leaves; and assimilate importing stopped at about 8 days after emergence. While sink to source transition (as determined by assimilate import) per se did not appear to be light-regulated, the ability to accumulate sucrose in the veins for export out.of leaves was light dependent. This was based on the observation that post-transitional dark-grown leaves which had ceased importing could not export exogenously applied sucrose unless they were exposed to light for several days. The data indicated that transition is developmentally regulated and not coupled to photosynthetic capacity.

1Contribution No. D-15192-1-89 from the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. This work was funded in part by the Beet Sugar Development Foundation and Rutgers Universi ty Research Council and was submitted as partial fulfillment for M.S. degree by Lynne H. Pitcher.

(Received August 22, 1990; Accepted January 9, 1991)
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