Translocation of carbon-14 in sugarcane plants supplied with or deprived of phosphorus

Translocation of radioactive carbon from the fed part of a blade to the rest of the plant was impaired by a deficiency in phosphorus only when the level of phosphorus was low enough to decrease growth.Phosphorus deficiency decreased the percentage of inorganic phosphorus more than that of organic phosphorus, indicating little effect of phosphorus deficiency upon phosphorylation.Thus phosphorus deficiency did not reduce phosphorylation enough to affect translocation. Evidence for the involvement of phosphorylation in translocation obtained from studies with potassium deficiency, light intensity and quality, 3-(p-chlorophenyl)-1, 1-dimethylurea and 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1, 1-dimethylurea, and carbon dioxide suggests that noncyclic photosynthetic phosphorylation provides the energy for phototranslocation.