Seasonal photosynthate allocation and leaf chemistry in relation to herbivory in the coast live oak, Quercus agrifolia

Thesis/Dissertation · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1987

OSTI ID:5297449

Mauffette, Y

The coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia Nee) is an evergreen tree species distributed along the coastal range of California. The seasonal photosynthate allocation and leaf chemistry were studied on fifteen oak trees from spring 1982 to spring 1984. Branches of Q. agrifolia were labeled with /sup 14/CO/sub 2/ at monthly intervals, to determine photosynthate allocation to growth and to defensive compounds throughout the year. Labeled leaves were chemically analyzed to determine the activity present in various metabolic fractions (sugar, lipid, starch, phenolic, tannin, protein, organic and amino acid, and cell wall material). The utilization of photosynthate for the different chemical fractions varied during the seasons. New leaves allocated a significant proportion of carbon to phenolics early in the growing season, whereas later in the season more carbon was allocated to cell wall material. Old leaves maintained more consistent allocation patterns throughout seasons, and a large proportion of carbon was devoted to storage products.

• Research Organization: California Univ., Davis (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5297449
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550201* -- Biochemistry-- Tracer Techniques
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
AGE DEPENDENCE
CARBON 14 COMPOUNDS
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
LABELLED COMPOUNDS
LEAVES
OAKS
PHOTOCHEMICAL REACTIONS
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
PLANTS
SEASONAL VARIATIONS
SYNTHESIS
TRACER TECHNIQUES
TREES
VARIATIONS