Distribution of radioactivities in sugars from acetate-2-14C incubation and elemental content of some vascular plants in two diverse habitats of Glacier Bay, Alaska

• Main Authors: Wu, Pei Hsing Lin, Thompson, Ellen M.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 1976
• Subjects: research-article; Glacier Bay; glacier; Alaska
• Online Access: http://pcp.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/17/6/1167

Essentially six sugars became labeled following acetate-2-14C metabolism in plants distributed in two different communities—pioneer and forest. Of these the bulk of radioactivity resided in glucose, fructose and sucrose. Except for willows, labeled glucose and labeled fructose dominated the plants of the pioneer habitat, while labeled sucrose in addition to labeled glucose and fructose characterized those of the forest. For willows, the radioactivities were present in both monosaccharides and disaccharides. This sugar labeling pattern occurred in the alder which for the two habitats tested, was consistent with the general observation. The relative level of the content of magnesium and phosphorus for various plants in the pioneer habitat were no different from those in the forest habitat. Levels of sulfur, chlorine, potassium and calcium were generally higher in plants of the forest than in those of the pioneer community. Plants with a low level of K contained a higher level of labeled hexoses; while plants with a high level of K contained both labeled hexoses and disaccharide, indicating that potassium may be involved in the incorporation of the 14C into sugar during acetate-2-14C.