Vascular pathways constrain 13C accumulation in large root sinks of Lycopersicon esculentum (Solanaceae)

Abstract

While carbon transport and partitioning is largely determined by phloem source-sink relationships, it may be constrained by vascular connections. Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) plants exhibit a high degree of sectoriality, with restricted movement of nutrients from particular roots to orthostichous leaves. In this experiment we investigated the manner in which sectoriality influences source-sink phloem partitioning from shoots to roots in tomatoes and whether the size of the sink (root) modifies the pattern of carbon movement outside sectored pathways. Using 13C, we determined that shoot-to-root carbon transport in tomatoes is sectored even from upper leaves. Sink size also influenced carbon partitioning. Specifically, when a lateral root was grown in isolation (using a split-pot technique), it grew more and acquired significantly more 13C from an orthostichous, exposed leaf than did any other single root. Vascular constraints were evident. 13C accumulation in a large, isolated lateral root was very low when a leaf opposite the isolated lateral root was exposed. Thus sink size did not overcome vascular constraints. Because carbon assimilates are needed for nutrient acquisition and assimilation, these vascular constraints may affect the ability of sectored plants to utilize heterogeneously distributed soil resources. If so, future studies should compare species that differ in sectoriality to determine whether vascular constraints affect competitive hierarchies when soil resource availability is patchy.