Assimilation of 3H in photosynthesizing leaves exposed to HTO

Potato and wine grape plants were exposed for a period of 4 h to tritiated water vapor, and simultaneously to 14CO2 which served as a tracer for photosynthetic assimilation. During and after exposure, foliar samples were collected in which the exchangeable and nonexchangeable fractions of organic 3H were determined, taking care that the exchangeable fraction should not be lost to atmosphere. It was demonstrated that about 20% of the organic H in vegetation could be exchanged with 3H of tissue water, and that nonexchangeable 3H was fixed by photosynthesis. The kinetic behavior of the 2 forms was very different.