Interactions of Processes for Accumulation of Salt and Sugar in Barley Plants

Low-salt barley plants contain low salt and high sugar levels; high-salt plants contain high salt but low sugar levels. It is shown that salt inhibits glucose transport into the cell and it is suggested that the low sugar level in high-salt plants is due to this inhibition. During uptake of salt by low -salt roots the sugar level falls, and rates of salt transport and respiration are both correlated with sugar level in the root. It is suggested that due to the high sugar level, rates of uptake of salt to low-salt roots may be exaggerated when compared with high-salt roots. The dependence on metabolic status has been ignored in kinetic studies of ion transport