THE INCORPORATION OF C14 INTO CELLULOSE AND OTHER POLYSACCHARIDES OF SUGAR BEET LEAF DURING SHORT TERM PHOTOSYNTHESIS IN C14O2

Abstract

The carbohydrates of sugar beet leaf were fractionated by successive extractions in ethanol, water, and three concentrations of potassium hydroxide. Quantitative hydrolysis of the polysaccharides from the water- and alkali-soluble fractions gave galactose, glucose, arabinose, xylose, ribose, and rhamnose in varying proportions. When these fractions from leaves which had photosynthetically assimilated C14O2 for 10 to 120 seconds were analyzed, all fractions, including the alkali-insoluble cellulose, were labelled after only 10 seconds. The proportion of C14 in the alkali-soluble fraction was high relative to that in cellulose after 10 seconds, but similar in both fractions after longer periods. All of the radioactivity in the carbohydrates was in glucose (apart from the fructose of sucrose). When photosynthesis in C14O2 was followed by photosynthetic periods in normal air, the polysaccharide fractions all continued to receive C14-labelled glucose for about 5 minutes. No significant transfer of radioactivity from one fraction to another was detected during an additional 40 minutes. The data indicate that the formation of leaf polysaccharides is closely linked to early products of the photosynthetic assimilation of carbon dioxide, and that the different polysaccharides are formed concurrently with little interconversion.