ABSTRACrIn this paper, a combination of tracer uptake, efflux, and pulse-chase techniques is applied to the problem of compartmentation of Na ' (4Nal) in the roots of intact, midvegetative Spergularia marina (L.) Griseb. plants. An approach is presented for conducting useful compartmental analysis when it is known that the assumptions required for staightforward interpretations of influx and efflux studies are invalid. Linear rates of 2'Na' accumulation in both roots and shoots were attained within at most a few minutes following the start of labeling. Shoot 2'Na contents equaled root contents within about 20 minutes. Analysis of root accumulation rates, and compartmental and pulse-chase efflux studies indicated that the unidirectional flux rates involved were at least an order of magnitude greater than linear rates of root and shoot accumulation. These rapid fluxes involved only a small portion of the total root Na' (about 1%). The results suggest the existence of a small symplastic compartment, distinct from the 'bulk cytoplasm,' rapidly exchanging with the medium, and responsible for delivery of Na to the xylem. The physical identity of this compartment and its physiological significance are discussed with respect to precedents in the literature.The ultimate significance of the study of root level ion transport and compartmentation in higher plants lies in the understanding of the dual role of roots as organs of ion absorption, with physiological needs of their own, and as organs responsible for nutrient resource partitioning within the whole plant. Analysis of the transport processes has been facilitated by the use of isotope techniques which allow increased resolution ofion movements with respect to both time and a large background of nontransported ions.The There has, to our knowledge, never been a consideration of the requirements for interpretable use of isotopes in transport studies using whole plants under conditions in which one could be assured that unidirectional influx was not being measured, and in which the arrangement of compartments was demonstrably not serial. In this paper we will present such a consideration, showing in particular that by combining influx and compartmental efflux techniques, each of which in itself is theoretically invalid under these circumstances, with pulse-chase studies, it is possible to characterize the compartmentation accounting for the observed ion fluxes and the partitioning between root and shoot. We will present results obtained using intact, vegetative Spergularia marina plants growing on 0.2 x sea water medium in solution culture. The particular virtues of this system have been discussed elsewhere in detail (5,6). For the present purposes, we will restrict our consideration to sodium uptake, accumulation, and translocation because of its relatively straightforward transport characteristics.
MATERIALS AND METHODSSpergularia marina (L.) Griseb. seeds were collected from plants growing in our growth chambers and were germinated, transferred to solution cultur...