Abstract. Root segments of vetch, barley, and pine were exposed to a nutrient solution containing 85Sr and 45Ca tracers. Translocation was measured from solutions containing stable ions at concentrations of 2.5 mM Ca, and at either 0.5 mM or 2.5 mM Sr. Polar transport was established between 12 and 18 hr in barley, and between 16 and 22 hr in vetch. Acropetal transport remained below 5 % of basipetal transport of tracer during these intervals. Transport in both vetch and barley usually deolined before an elapsed time of 24 hr unlike corn, which maintained its steady state beyond 24 hr. Pine was radically different in that it showed no difference between acropetal and basipetal transport rates and had very low rates. Sr transport in all plants studied to date paralleled that of Ca and the ratio Sr:Ca transported was equal to the ratio Sr:Ca in the nutrient. In vetch, stable Ca transport was reduced to one-fifth when Sr concentration was increased from 0.5 mM to 2.5 mM. Yet stable Sr transport did not change, indicating that the effect on transport was not due to competitive inhibition. A similar effect was less pronounced in barley, but could not be detected in pine. The magnitude of the transport rates varied considerably among the various species, corn having the greatest followed by barley, vetch, and pine in decreasing order. Transport did not correlate with root weight or surface area; it amounted to from 0.03 to 0.60 nanomoles per hr in these experiments as oompared to 7 nanomoles per hr previously established in corn (in all cases, 55 mm segments, sectioned 10 mm from apex).Several investigators have shown that the rates of translocation of strontium or calcium tracers from the roots can vary significantlv among different plants (11,18,20, 23,26,28,29 of competitive inhibition were studied also in corn (15). The purpose of the present studies was to compare vetch, barley and pine tunder the same conditions previously used for corn. Vicia sativa (common vetch) was cho-en as a representative dicotyledon, and its roots could be studied in the perfusion bridge previously described (10, 32). Also. since it is a common pasture plant. measurement of its strontium transport might be directly applicable to fallout contamination problems. Pinlts radiata was selected as a representative gymnosperm. Barley was included as an additional monocotyledon that has been widely studied.
Materials and Methods