A Survey of the Rates and Products of Short-term Photosynthesis in Plants of Nine Phyla

1. Short-term photosynthetic experiments using C¹⁴O₂ and paperchromatography were performed with 27 different plants representingnine phyla: Schizophyta (Schizophyceae), Euglenophyta, Chlorophyta,Charophyta, Chrysophyta, Rhodophyta, Bryophyta, Pteridophyta,and Spermatophyts.
2. There is a remarkable uniformity in thetypes of ethanol-solublecompounds which became radioactivein the entire group of plantsused. The amounts of the differentcompounds varied considerablypercentagewise among the variousplants as would be expectedbecause of their inherent metabolicdifferences and the variationsin their physiological statesinduced by experimental conditions.
3. Sucrose became radioactivein very different amounts in twomajor groupings of plants:(a) those containing only photosynthetictissue, and (b) thosecontaining non-photosynthetic tissue aswell. The amount ofradioactive sucrose in the former groupwas much lower thanthat in the latter.
4. An unidentified compound became radioactivein appreciable amountsin two of the blue-green algae, but wasradioactive in verysmall amounts or not visible at all on thechromatograms ofall other plants.