Determination of C distribution in photosynthetic serine and phosphoglycerate from grape leaves

Serine and phosphoglyceric acid are the classical marker intermediates of photorespiration and reductive carbon assimilation in C(3) plants. The present paper introduces a new and fast method for the determination of (14)C distribution in these compounds by selective elimination of C-3 (NaIO(4)) or C-1 (ninhydrin/ceric sulfate). Reproducibility of the procedure was found to be better than +/-1% upon degradation of [U-(14)C]serine and [U-(14)C]glycerate standards.Determination of labeling patterns in (dephosphorylated) phosphoglycerate and serine, extracted from grape leaf discs (Vitis vinifera L.) after administration of (14)CO(2) for 1 minute showed that (14)C distribution in serine changes considerably with changing assimilatory conditions. Interpretations of data basing on unusual labeling patterns of serine must therefore be accepted with caution.