Localisation of translocated 14C in roots and root exudates of field‐grown maize

The roots of a mature, field‐grown maize plant are dimorphic: the primary root and those from the oldest nodes are bare with a heavily lignified cortex arid sloughed epidermis; those from younger nodes, except for a bare elongation zone, have an intact epidermis surrounded by a persistent soil sheath. Sheathed roots consistently have more layers of cortical cells, but the ratio of volumes of cortex to stele (ca 4) and the cross‐sectional area of phloem (ca3× 10−2 mm2) are similar in each type. Assimilated carbon (from 14C applied to a small area of one leaf) was translocated to all roots and actively metabolized in cortex and stele of both types. After 1 to 2 days the proportion of 14C exuded from a given length of mature root into its soil sheath, or into the adjacent unattached soil in the case of bare roots, was the same (5%) in both root types when compared with the ethanol‐soluble 14C in the tissues of this length. Up to 75% of the ethanol‐soluble label in the roots was in a cationic fraction (amino acids and unidentified compounds), ca 1% was in an anionic fraction and the remainder was in a neutral fraction (sugars). Approximately equal amounts of soluble 14C were found in the stele, cortex and laterals.