Careful cutting of the hypocotyl of Ricinus communis L. seedlings led to the exudation of pure sieve-tube sap for 2-3 h. This offered the possibility of testing the phloem-loading system qualitatively and quantitatively by incubating the cotyledons with different solutes of various concentrations to determine whether or not these solutes were loaded into the sieve tubes. The concentration which was achieved by loading and the time course could also be documented. This study concentrated on the loading of sucrose because it is the major naturally translocated sieve-tube compound. The sucrose concentration of sieve-tube sap was approx. 300 mM when the cotyledons were buried in the endosperm. When the cotyledons were excised from the endosperm and incubated in buffer, the sucrose concentration decreased gradually to 80-100 mM. This sucrose level was maintained for several hours by starch breakdown. Incubation of the excised cotyledons in sucrose caused the sucrose concentration in the sieve tubes to rise from 80 to 400 mM, depending on the sucrose concentration in the medium. Thus the sucrose concentration in the sieve tubes could be manipulated over a wide range. The transfer of labelled sucrose to the sieve-tube sap took 10 min; full isotope equilibration was finally reached after 2 h. An increase of K(+) in the medium or in the sieve tubes did not change the sucrose concentration in the sievetube sap. Similarly the experimentally induced change of sucrose concentration in the sieve tubes did not affect the K(+) concentration in the exudate. High concentrations of K(+), however, strongly reduced the flow rate of exudation. Similar results were obtained with Na(+) (data not shown). The minimum translocation speed in the sieve tubes in vivo was calculated from the growth increment of the seedling to be 1.03 m·h(-1), a value, which on average was also obtained for the exudation system with the endosperm attached. This comparison of the in-vivo rate of phloem transport and the exudation rate from cut hypocotyls indicates that sink control of phloem transport in the seedlings of that particular age was small, if there was any at all, and that the results from the experimental exudation system were probably not falsified by removal of the sink tissues.

Radiata pine (Pinus radiata D.Don) and red beech (Nothofagus fusca (Hook. f.) Oerst.) were grown for over 1 year at elevated (ELEV, 64 Pa) and ambient (AMB, 38 Pa) CO2 partial pressure in open-top chambers. Springtime measurements of overwintering leaves showed that light- and CO2-saturated photosynthetic rates (Amax) of pine leaves were similar for the two treatments (AMB: 6.7 � 1.08 μmol m-2 s-1, mean � 1 s.e.; ELEV: 6.6 � 0.47) but, for beech leaves, Amax was greater for AMB plants (8.8 � 0.90 μmol m-2 s-1) than for ELEV plants (6.10 � 0.71). Summertime measurements of leaves grown that spring showed that for pine, Amax was similar in the two CO2 treatments (AMB 14.9 μmol m-2 s-1 � 0.80; ELEV: 13.5 � 1.9) while, for beech, Amax was higher in AMB plants (21.0 � 1.1) than in ELEV plants (17.2 � 1.9), although the difference was not statistically significant. These results indicate downregulation of photosynthetic capacity of beech but not pine. Vcmax did not differ between treatments within species, suggesting that there was no acclimation of rubisco activity. Triose phosphate utilisation limitation may have contributed to the downregulation of Amax in beech. For pine, photosynthesis at treatment CO2 partial pressures was greater in ELEV plants in both spring and summer. For beech measured at treatment CO2 partial pressures, photosynthesis was greater in ELEV plants in summer, but was similar between treatments in the springtime.

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We studied water use by Eucalyptus tereticornis Sm. in two plantations, differing in tree density (1800 stems ha(-1) at Site I and 1090 stems ha(-1) at Site II), in different years. At both sites, stomatal conductance, predawn and midday water potentials and microclimate were measured and used to estimate hourly transpiration by the Penman-Monteith equation. Growth in girth was also measured. Stomatal conductance was closely correlated with atmospheric vapor pressure deficit (D); however, stomata did not close completely even at high D ( approximately 5.0 kPa). Midday leaf water potentials did not fall below -2.0 MPa during any part of the year at either site. Predawn leaf water potentials were greater than -0.25 MPa during the postmonsoon period, but declined to -0.7 MPa at Site I during the premonsoon period. Transpiration estimates ranged from 0.6 to 1.2 mm h(-1) at Site I and from 0.2 to 0.6 mm h(-1) at Site II. The extrapolated transpiration values for the rain-free days of the year were 1563 mm and 853 mm for Sites I and II, respectively. Growth in girth was negligible during the premonsoon period. Photosynthesis was not affected by the minor water stress that developed during the premonsoon period.