(Cuscuta, SPP.) and Alfalfa
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Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 5-1960 Studies Into Some Physiological Relationships Between Dodder Cuscuta, SPP. and Alfalfa Harold Edward Pattee Utah State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd Part of the Agriculture Commons Recommended Citation Pattee, Harold Edward, "Studies Into Some Physiological Relationships Between Dodder Cuscuta, SPP. and Alfalfa" (1960). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 2860. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/2860 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDI ES I NTO SOME PHYSIOLOGICAL REL.A. TIONSHIPS BETWEEN DODDER (Ct:SCUTA, SPP. ) AND ALFAU'A by Harol d Edward Pattee A thesi ! ~bmitted i~ parti al fu l r i ll ~e nt of t ~e requiremente f or the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE i n Agronorey UTA H ST/. TF Ul>iiVERSITY Lo gan , utah 1960 .378 ~ Pz 77s c:.. ~ ACKNMEDGMENTS I am very grateful to Dr. Keith R. All red for his gui dance and help on this problem. I am al so indebted to Dr. Herman H. Wi ebe, Dr. Gene W. Miller, and Dr. R, L. Smith for their valuable advice and assitance in this study. Appreci ation is expressed for the financial ai d received from the Will iam C. Claypool Fellowshi p in Agriculture and to the Kennecott Copper Company for the grant which supported i n part the research re- ported herein, Harold E. Pattee TABLE OF CONTENTS Page I ntroduction 1 Review of literature Photorynth e si~ Hi ~tor i ~n l :1\lm"!lary 3 War ~JU:rc 0 ~ "inOirect -nnt'1od" 4 R'l. ' ioacti·te C'l.J·bo., ·"ioxi ie u - take 5 ~romato~ r aph ic techni ques 7 Me t ho ~ ani procenure" 9 9 Wa rburg's "i~ ri i rec t l'!etnon " 9 Pl ant rnat,.ri a l 9 Li,·ht i nto,-w i tiec for gro•th 9 Hat-vesti nr 10 Ana l,vsis 10 Ra i oactive c•r<on <' ioxi le u ;o t-..ke - lig'lt v s. dark c ··m·ii t ions ll Plant m~ t~r i a l 13 Techni1ueR for r'ldioactiv" cat bo:1 lioxide treatment 14 Tr1ns l oc otion of c~rbon from ra~ io ~ct i ve carbon diox i de 17 Al fq l fa to dodder 17 Pl ant mateJ i <l 17 Te chni 1ues ror ,., ioactiv ~ carbon dioxi de tre t1'ent 17 Ana l y~ i R 18 19 P l ~nt :rt'ltPri..al 19 Tre~t , ,.,nt 19 Ana l y"-i • 19 TA BLE OF CONTENTS ( Conti nued ) Page I dentification of am i no ncids and sugars in alfalfa and dodder 20 Extract i on of the compounds 20 Chromatographic techni1ues 20 Re sults 23 Photosynt heci s sturl ies 23 War burg' s "i :1~ i rec t metr.od " 2 ) Radi oactivB ~ arlxm Hoxi le U!Jtake - li!!;ht v s , dark c onditions 28 Tran s loc~ ti on of carbon f rom radi oac tive carbon dioxiie 35 Al fal fa to dodde r 35 Alfal f a to dodder to alfa lfa 40 I <ientirica1 i on of ami no aci is and >u ~a rs i n al f al fa and dorlder 43 Amino acids 43 Sugars 46 General ~ i seuss i c n 47 Summary and concl usi on 50 Li U>ra t11re cited 52 LIST OF FI G!:RES Page Ai4aratus used to ex pose detac1ed > l a~ t ~~ter i a l to c o2 • 15 2. A ~4a ratus used to expose attached plant rna tertal to c o2 . 16 J. Fixation of cl 4 by attAched large dodder 37 4. Transl ocation of cl4 from al fal fa to attached dodder 38 5. Transl ocation of cl 4 from i ni tial roint of attachnent al falfa to dodder to alfal fa 42 6. Translocation of cl 4 from secondary poi~t of attac"unent alfalfa to dodder t o alfalfa ~~ 7. Autor~d i ogral'l of c hromAtogr~ ·n •howin[l separation of the radioactive compounds 45 U ST OF TABLES Table Page 1 . Photosynthesis in dodder ~nd ~ l f~ lf ' u~der a liP,ht intensity of 800 foot c~ "'dl es 24 2. Respiration tn excised seg'!lents of dodde.r and alfalfa 25 3, Ana ly~ is of variance of t~e p hotosynt~e s i s s tudy on riodder usi"'g Warhur t; 's "i"'direct ,et hod" 27 4 4 4. Fixation of cl fro"l cl o2 i n al falfa and tnree speci es of dodder under a light i ~ ten s ity of 900 foot c a~d les 29 5, Fixation of cl 4 fro"l cl4o2 L"' al falfa a~d t~o species of dodder u~ d er a li£n t i ntensity of 2.000 foot candles 30 6. Carbonl4 rixation b-; l nrr,e dodder at t ••o light i ntensities and two c a rl~ n l4 l evel s 32 Carbon14 f ixation by al fal ra l eavr, s and s tems at two li ~ht i "'tensities and two carbonlf l evel s , 33 8, Analysi s of variance of carbonl4 f ixation by l a rge dodde r at two li ~ ht i ntensitie s and VAo car bo nl4 l evel s 34 9. Fixation of cl4 f rom cl 4o2 by a tt..ched dodder pl ant" 36 10, T ran ~ l oc a ti on of cl4 f r o:n cl 4o2 i n alfal f a to dodder 39 11, Translocat i on of cl 4 f1·om cl 4o2 i n dodder to alfalfa 41 I NTRODUC TION I n recent years the weed commonly known as dodder has become an i mportant re a ~on f or the rejecti on of several alfalfa seed f i el ds for certification in Utah. The rapi d spread of infestation in alfalfa seed f i el ds , difficulty i n removing the dodder seed from the alfalf~ seed due to the simil arity i ~ ~ i ze, and a lack of adequate control are among the ma i n causes for the rising concern with dodder , Dodder i s an annual which reproduces from seed each year. Upon germination of the seed i n the spring a shoot four to f iv~ i nches long i s produce~ . The t i p of thi s leRfl ees, al mos t root l ess shoot rotat es u ntil , i f possi bl e , it comes i n contact with a hos t pl ant . I f the seedling rloes not contact a host ••i thi n a fe« days i t withers and di es. A shoo t that comes i n contact ~<ith a hos t pl ant enci rcl es a s t em or l eaf of the host . Haustori a are then produced which penetrate into the vascular t i ssue of the hos t pl ant . ~rough these haustoria dodder draws i ts food ~pply f or grow t~. Once the two pl ant s become unit ed, the base section of the dodder stem di es and the plant l oses di rect contact with the ground. From that time on the paraei te i s dependent on the host pl ant f or survival . Efforts toward f i nding a control have been centered around the use of cu l tural practices and chemical herbi ci des. I t was fel t that a physioloFtcal approach was needed i n order to become familiar wi th the re l ation~h i p that ex i ~ts between host and parasite. For this study three major relati onships were chosen. These were photosynthesi s, t ransl ocati on of compounds from host to parasite and 2 from parasite to ~oa t, and a co m1~ rison of the amino acids and sugars foun<i i n dodde r and alfalfa. The purpose of the photosynthesis study ~<as to determine if dod... der was able to carry on photosynthesi s . The transl ocati on study was ~ade to examine the movement of nutrients from al falfa to dodder and dodder to al falfa. This would give some i dea as t o the actual depend ency of dodder on tbe al fal fa plant. The analyses for amino acids and sugars in dodder and al falfa were made to give a comparison of com pounrls found i n both pl ants. I t is hoped that through these studies the i nformati on gained will eventually help provide a control for dodder. J REVIEW OF LI TER~TURE Photosynth.,!!i s Th8 following historical summary on tho devel opment of methods ror deter mining photosynthesi.• was made by this writer from Rabinowitch (1945, 1951) . Historical summary The messurement of photosynthesis seems to have had its origin about 1.800 when de Saussure studied the amount of carbon dioxide al> sorbed and oxygen liberated by plants. Boussingualt in 1.864 made further ~tudiel! of the gas exchange in photosynthesis. About this same time Jul ius Sachs proposed a method for the mea surement of net phot~gynthee i s.