After application of 2 μc bicarbonate-(14)C on a single leaf of the gametophyte of Polytrichum commune L., labeled organic material moves upward with a velocity of at least 32 cm per hour. Historadiographs of transsections showed that radioactivity occurs in the leptoids of the stem and in certain cells of the leaf bundle, mainly the so called Socii. Hydroids and ground tissue of the stem remain unlabeled. One of several labeled organic substances found in the extract of leaves could be identified as sucrose. Gross autoradiographs of fresh plants were obscured by (14)C-contaminated capillary water, which had spread on the surface of the plant. This effect could be prevented by drying off the surface water. In Polytrichum, there seems to exist a special conducting system for assimilates, composed of leptoids and certain Socii. Both cell-types agree in shape and content. They have relatively dense protoplasts containing chloroplasts; the transverse end walls are commonly covered by a thin layer of callose. A cytologic and ultrastructural study is in preparation.

Twenty-eight species of marine Chlorophyceae (5), Phaeophyceae (11), and Rhodophyceae (12) were examined for the occurence of simple volatile amines. The volatile alkaline constituents of the algal samples were extrated by alkaline steam destillation and separated and identified by paper chromatography and microcristallography. A total of 9 volatile amines were found to occur in the species so far examined: methylamine (MA), dimethylamine (DMA), trimethylamine (TMA), ethylamine (ÄA), propylamine (PA), isobutylamine (iBA), isoamylamine (iAA), 2-phenylethylamine (PÄA), and 2-methylmercaptopropylamine (MMPA). MMPA has not previously been reported to occur in any other plant. The occurence of TMA is widespread in marine algae (23 of 28 sp.) whereas an occurrence of DMA could be demonstrated only in two species. MA, which was found in all algal samples, might be formed from labile methylamino-compounds in the course of preparation. Its coccurrence as a natural constituent of algae remains doubtful. Primary amines could be identified in species of each of the three classes of algae, but an especially widespread occurrence was found in Rhodophyceae. With the exception of MA the primary volatile amines, at least those of Rhodophyceae, arise biosynthetically from the corresponding amino acids by enzymatic decarboxylation.

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