DISTRIBUTION WITHIN THE PLANT, VARIATION WITH MATURITY, AND HERITABILITY OF GRAMINE AND HORDENINE IN REED CANARY GRASS

Abstract

Clones of reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.), which were free of tryptamines and carbolines, were divided into blades, sheaths, and stems and analyzed for gramine and hordenine. Gramine concentrations in leaf blades of first growth were more than five times higher than those in sheaths or stems. Hordenine was highest in the leaf sheaths, being more than twice as high as in blades and four times as high as in stems. The effect of maturity on the content of these alkaloids in the leaf blades was also studied. Both gramine and hordenine remained fairly constant from the vegetative stage to early heading in samples of first growth. The concentrations of both alkaloids increased considerably in new regrowth, but in more mature regrowth had declined to levels found in first growth. Under greenhouse conditions, narrow-sense heritability estimates were 0.72 for gramine and 0.53 for hordenine. Hordenine was shown to be a major alkaloid of reed canary grass first growth, as concentrations were higher than those selected for lower gramine concentrations. A colorimetric assay for the estimation of hordenine is described.