Detecting Rapid Changes in Carbon Transport and Partitioning with Carbon-11 (11C).

Noninvasive techniques to measure phloem transport of carbon will be crucial to efforts to engineer improved crop yields, which are highly dependent on carbon partitioning. Phloem, which is buried in the interior of the plant, is highly sensitive to tissue damage. Here we describe nondestructive methods using carbon-11, fed to leaves as 11CO2, as a tracer to track export of recently fixed carbon from leaves, transport speed through the phloem, and distribution or partitioning throughout the plant.