An artefact in studies of the responses of respiration of bryophytes to desiccation
- 1 May 1977
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Canadian Science Publishing in Canadian Journal of Botany
- Vol. 55 (9) , 1195-1200
- https://doi.org/10.1139/b77-139
Abstract
The behaviour of respiration in response to desiccation treatments has been studied in the species Tortula ruralis (Hedw.) Gaertn., Mnium hornum (Hedw.), Dicranella palustris (Starke) Schp., Porella platyphylla (L.) Lindb., and Scapania undulata (L.) Dum. After 48 h of desiccation at 0 and 50% RH and rewetting for 32 h, the O2 uptake increased to about 6 times that of the control for Scapania, 2.5 times for Dicranella and about twice for Porella and Mnium: however, there was no significant increase for Tortula.Microscopic examination of the excess water collected from the shoots of Dicranella and Scapania 22 h after rewetting indicated the presence of a large number of microorganisms. Respiration experiments on the rewetting medium showed that the respiratory activity is due to microorganisms. The study shows that the stimulation of respiration because of microbial contamination could provide an indication of survival or injury in various bryophytes in response to desiccation stress. Respiration measurements however have serious limitations as indicators of cell viability in bryophytes.This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:
- A study of photosynthesis and leakage of solutes in relation to the desiccation effects in bryophytesCanadian Journal of Botany, 1977
- Der Gasaustausch der MoosePlanta, 1937