Analytic studies in plant respiration. IV.—The relation of the respiration of potatoes to the concentration of sugars and to the accumulation of a depressant at low temperatures. Part I.—The effect of temperature-history on the respiration/sugar relation

Abstract

The relation of the rate of respiration to the concentration of sugars in the cell is a problem of great theoretical importance. There are some indications in the literature of the effect of high external concentrations of sugar in increasing the respiration, but no full study of the relation of respiration to the internal sugar concentration has yet been published. For the analysis of the effect of changing internal sugar concentration the potato is a most suitable material, since its excess of hydrolysable starch allows one to alter the sugar content by exposure to cold and so produce a range of sugar between 0.2 per cent. and 7.0 per cent. at will. Moreover it respiration (Muller-Thurgau, 1882 ; Hopkins, 1924 ; Bennett and Bartholomew, 1924).