Protein and Respiration in the Apical Region of the Shoot of<i>Lupinus albus</i>

Abstract

This investigation is a study of differentiation in the apical region of the shoot in terms of the protein content and respiration of the dome and of each of the first seven primordia and internodes. The results obtained have been compared with others reported earlier showing the volumes and number of cells of each morphological component of the same system. It has been shown that internodal cells tend to have a higher content but a lower concentration of protein than primordium cells. As the series is traversed from the upper younger to the lower older units respiration per unit protein tends to increase in the primordia. In the internodes it is highest in the first three, decreases abruptly from the third to the fourth, and then increases again. Frequently the values for the dome are intermediate between those for the first internode and those for the first primordium. The significance of these differences is discussed.