Interveinal Distance for Carbohydrate Transport in Leaves of C3 and C4 Grasses<sup>1</sup>

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<jats:p>Among common crop and range Gramineae, we found that species with the C<jats:sub>4</jats:sub> pathway for photosynthesis had fewer cells between leaf vascular bundles than did C<jats:sub>3</jats:sub> species. We extracted chlorophyll from leaf segments of 10 Ca and 10 C<jats:sub>4</jats:sub> species, cleared the segments in 10% aqueous NaOH, counted the number of mesophyll cells between vascular bundle sheaths, and measured the distance (center to center) between the vascular bundles. The C<jats:sub>3</jats:sub> species had 9 to 15 mesophyll cells between vascular bundle sheaths, while the C<jats:sub>4</jats:sub> species had only 2. The vascular bundles were 0.18 to 0.36 mm (average 0.27) apart in C<jats:sub>3</jats:sub> species, but only 0.08 to 0.15 mm (average 0.11) apart in C<jats:sub>3</jats:sub> species. The closeness of all leaf cells to vascular tissue in C<jats:sub>4</jats:sub> species suggests efficiency for transporting the products of photosynthesis and may be an important factor in their greater capacity to fix CO<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>.</jats:p>

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