New Zealand Journal of Botany abstracts

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TRANSLOCATION IN GRASSES
2. PERENNIAL RYEGRASS AND COUCH GRASS

B. J. FORDE*

Botany Department, University of California, Davis, U.S.A.

Abstract Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) and couch grass (Agropyron repens (L.) Beauv.) plants were raised in a glasshouse and transferred to growth rooms at 24°c and 70% relative humidity under a light intensity of 1,200 foot-candles. A single spot of "C-labelled urea, amitrole, or maleic hydrazide was placed at the base of a mature leaf lamina. The translocation of ¹⁴C after periods of 3 to 48 hours was determined by gross autoradiography. While "C from urea* applied to the main tiller or to a side tiller of perennial ryegrass tended to remain in the treated tiller, label from amitrole* and especially MH* showed more widespread translocaition in both the symplast and apoplast. Covering or defoliating a tiller increased the quality of label that moved to such a tiller from an intact, illuminated tiller to which labelled solution was applied. Export of "C from the treated leaf of couch grass occurred more slowly than in perennial ryegrass. Although some assimilates (as evidenced by tracer movement) moved from a large treated tuft to a smaller one via the rhizome, the reverse did not occur in fully illuminated intact plants. Covering had no effect on tracer movement, but partial defoliation generally caused inter-tuft trans-location that was not observed in intact plants. The results are discussed in relation to the different habit types of the species studied.

N.Z. Jl Bot. 4: 496-514. (Received for publication 7 June 1966)

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