The effects on plant growth of a sugar analogue, 1,4-dideoxy-1,4-iminoarabinitol (DIA) isolated from Arachniodes standishii, were studied using lucerne seedlings. DIA affected sugar distribution in the seedlings. If seedlings were treated with DIA, the sucrose content increased in cotyledons, and decreased in roots and hypocotyls. DIA inhibited in vivo soluble as well as cell wall-bound invertase. These results suggest that this sugar analogue inhibits phloem unloading and/or utilization of sucrose, resulting in insufficient sucrose transport from cotyledons to roots and hypocotyls.