Sugar translocation in two members of the cucurbitaceae

Abstract

Stachyose is the carrier for most of the carbon translocated from leaves of the few members of the Cucurbitaceae that have been studied. To extend our understanding of the chemical specificity of carbon translocation in this family, Cucurbita foetidissima and Echinocystis lobata were labeled with 14CO 2 and the chemical nature of the translocated 14C-sugars was studied. In both species, stachyose was the major carrier of carbon; raffinose and small amounts of verbascose also appear to have been translocated. Data are not so clear, especially in E. lobata, for sucrose, although they support the thesis that sucrose was also translocated.