ISSN:
1573-5036
Keywords:
carbon-labelling
;
carbon dioxide production
;
decomposition
;
14C-glucose
;
Lemna
;
soil organic matter
;
sugars
;
transformation
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Agriculture, Forestry, Horticulture, Fishery, Domestic Science, Nutrition
Notes:
Abstract The duckweed Lemna gibba required light and a suitable energy source such as sucrose, glucose or fructose, for maximum growth in culture. The requirement for light was relatively unimportant and the plants grew well in a photon flux density of only 52 μmol m-2s-1 PAR. The uptake and incorporation of uniformly labelled 14C-glucose into fronds was related only to the concentration of the sugar. When incubated with soil, labelled L. gibba behaved in a manner similar to that of labelled ryegrass roots which had been produced by a more elaborate technique using a 14CO2 labelled atmosphere. During incubation with soil for 224 days the L. gibba material (specific activity 6133 Bq mg-1 d. wt) lost 64% of its radioactivity as 14CO2 and ryegrass (specific activity 6634 Bq mg-1 d. wt) lost 49%. Alkaline extracted humic and fulvic acids from soil had specific activities for the L. gibba incubation of 3409 and 407 Bq mg-1 solid and for ryegrass roots of 4609 and 546 Bq mg-1 solid respectively. The production of 13C or 14C-labelled L. gibba can be undertaken using only simple equipment producing material the specific radioactivity of which can be controlled by adjusting the activity of the sugar energy source.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00010144
