Does microwaving or freezing reduce the losses of non-structural carbohydrates during plant sample processing? ...

• Main Authors: Piper, Frida, Reyes, Andrea
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2019
• Subjects: non-structural carbohydrates; plant samples; Patagonia; Ribes; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4b8gtht87; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.4b8gtht87

Context: Non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) mediate tree survival, but precise determinations of NSC concentrations remain challenging. An unclear aspect is whether carbohydrate losses during sample processing can be reduced by different sample treatments. Aims: We postulated that due to higher metabolic rates, leaves should be more responsive to sample treatments than branch sapwood, and resource-acquisitive species should be more responsive to sample treatment than resource-conservative species. Methods: In leaves and branch sapwood of six tree species, we compared the effects of three sample treatments on the concentrations of NSC, starch, and low-molecular weight sugars: sample microwaving before drying (microwave), sample freezing at -20ºC before drying (freezing), and only drying (stove). Results: We found that across species and tissues, freezing led to significantly higher NSC and sugar concentrations than microwave and stove. This effect was, however, entirely driven by the leaves. Although the ... : Sample collection was performed in May 2017 within the Coyhaique National Reserve (45° 59′ S and 71° 52′ W, 650 m above sea level (a.s.l.)), Coyhaique Province, Patagonia (Chile). Six woody species were selected to represent a range of leaf and wood economies. Species sampled were Berberis mycrophylla G. Forst., Embothrium coccineum J.R.Forst. & G.Forst., Nothofagus dombeyi Blume, Nothofagus antarctica Oerst., Nothofagus pumilio Krasser, and Ribes magellanicum Poir. Six individuals of similar size were selected per species. One terminal, ~1 m long, fully expanded, sun exposed branch was cut at breast height. From each of these branches, we collected sun-exposed leaves of the two last cohorts (current and previous growing season) and 4-year-old branch segments (with bark and phloem removed in the field with a knife) for NSC determination. Samples were immediately transported to the lab, where they were assigned to each of three treatments. The first treatment consisted of the application of a microwave ...