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Environmental and Stress Physiology

A Requirement for Sucrose in Xylem Sap Flow from Dormant Maple Trees ¹

Department of Botany, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 1A1, Department of Botany, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, Department of Horticulture, Guelph University, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1

The response of excised stem segments of several tree species to freezing and thawing cycles was studied. All species studied (Thuja occidentalis, Fagus grandifolia, and Betula papyrifera) except maple (Acer spp.) exuded sap while freezing and absorbed on thawing. Maple stems absorbed sap while freezing and exuded sap during the thaw only when sucrose was present in the vessel solution. Increased concentration of sucrose in the vessel sap led to increased exudation. In the absence of sucrose, maple stems absorbed sap on thawing. The presence of sucrose enhanced sap absorption during freezing cycles in maples. In general, large sugars, disaccharides and larger, could substitute for sucrose in the maple exudation response while sugar hexoses could not. The results are discussed in relation to the O'Malley-Milburn model (1983 Can J Bot 61: 3100-3106) of sap flow in maples.