XVI International Botanical Congess

Sugars from Melinis minutiflora, a C4 forage grass, and Echinolaena inflexa, a C3 native species, were analyzed correlating carbohydrate metabolism with their distribution and phenology. During vegetative growth, no differences in sugar levels were observed in aerial parts of both species. However, expressive increase in sugars, mostly sucrose, was found in M. minutiflora stems during the reproductive phase. E. inflexa showed no differences in sugar levels, but only in composition. Low molecular weight sugars predominated in leaf blades, sheaths and stems of this species, with different homologous series of oligosacharides characterizing the leaf blades. Supported by FAPESP, CAPES, CNPq.