Accumulation of Phosphate, Sulfate and Sucrose by Excised Phloem Tissues

Excised petiolar vascular bundles and excised phloem tissues have been shown to take up phosphate, sulfate and sucrose by a true accumulation process and against high concentration ratios. Phosphate was accumulated principally as inorganic phosphate, and sucrose principally as sucrose. The rates of accumulation of the 3 solutes into the phloem-containing tissues were from 4 to 35 times higher than into comparable parenchyma tissue. It is suggested that this active accumulation mechanism plays an important role in the phenomenon of phloem transport. The excised vascular, phloem and parenchyma tissues show an aging phenomenon; aerating the excised tissues for 18 hours prior to their use causes marked changes in the accumulatory behavior of the tissue. The data suggest that 1 phosphate accumulation system of low affinity but high capacity exists in fresh tissue, and that aging allows the development of a second, additional phosphate accumulation mechanism of high affinity and low capacity. A possible role in the control of phosphate movement is suggested.