Rapid Water Inflow and Outflow in Plants with Roots Treated with Salt Solutions of Various Concentrations

A new highly sensitive and rapidly responding gravimetric method was used for the investigation of rapid responses manifesting in water inflow and outflow from roots in the intact seedlings of tomato Lycopersicon esculentumMill. and sunflower Helianthus annuusL. The effects of K⁺, Na⁺, and Ca²⁺chlorides were studied in solutions with concentrations of 0.3–500 mM. Any sudden increase in the osmotic pressure of an external solution brought about a typical gravimetric response in the roots of seedlings that started practically without a lag period and comprised rapid and slow phases of water loss. The total amplitude of the response depended on the osmotic gradient produced by the changes of solutions. Responses were reversible and well reproduced upon the repeated treatment of the same plant if the treatment was noninvasive. The notable characteristics of water inflow and outflow included a very short lag period, a gradual pattern, and a low selectivity to different salts. This was especially true for the initial (rapid) phase of response. However, mono- and bivalent cations showed some specificity of action. Some data suggest the osmotic nature of rapid responses of water uptake and loss by roots. One may assume that a dynamic osmotic equilibrium exists between the root and the outer solution so that any change in the osmotic pressure of the medium would induce an instant and then a more gradual change in the water content. When plotted in logarithmic coordinates, two straight lines with different slopes described the relationship between the gravimetric response and the salt concentration. The point where these lines intersected corresponded to about 50 mM NaCl. Lower and higher salt concentrations seem to induce rapid water inflow and outflow in plant roots by means of different mechanisms.     

Basis of Chloride Transport in Ciliary Epithelium

The aqueous humor is formed by the bilayered ciliary epithelium. The pigmented ciliary epithelium (PE) faces the stroma and the nonpigmented ciliary epithelium (NPE) contacts the aqueous humor. Cl⁻ secretion likely limits the rate of aqueous humor formation. Many transport components underlying Cl⁻ secretion are known. Cl⁻ is taken up from the stroma into PE cells by electroneutral transporters, diffuses to the NPE cells through gap junctions and is released largely through Cl⁻ channels. Recent work suggests that significant Cl⁻ recycling occurs at both surfaces of the ciliary epithelium, providing the basis for modulation of net secretion. The PE-NPE cell couplet likely forms the fundamental unit of secretion; gap junctions within the PE and NPE cell layers are inadequate to maintain constancy of ionic composition throughout the epithelium under certain conditions. Although many hormones, drugs and signaling cascades are known to have effects, a persuasive model of the regulation of aqueous humor formation has not yet been developed. cAMP likely plays a central role, potentially both enhancing and reducing secretion by actions at both surfaces of the ciliary epithelium. Among other hormone receptors, A₃ adenosine receptors likely alter intraocular pressure by regulating NPE-cell Cl⁻ channel activity. Recently, functional evidence for the regional variation in ciliary epithelial secretion has been demonstrated; the physiologic and pathophysiologic implications of this regional variation remain to be addressed.This revised version was published online in June 2005 with a corrected cover date.     

Environmental setting of San Francisco Bay

San Francisco Bay, the largest bay on the California coast, is a broad, shallow, turbid estuary comprising two geographically and hydrologically distinct subestuaries: the northern reach lying between the connection to the Pacific Ocean at the Golden Gate and the confluence of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River system, and the southern reach (herein called South Bay) between the Golden Gate and the southern terminus of the bay. The northern reach is a partially mixed estuary dominated by seasonally varying river inflow, and the South Bay is a tidally oscillating lagoon-type estuary. Freshwater inflows, highest during winter, generate strong estuarine circulation and largely determine water residence times. They also bring large volumes of dissolved and particulate materials to the estuary. Tidal currents, generated by mixed semidiurnal and diurnal tides, mix the water column and, together with river inflow and basin geometry, determine circulation patterns. Winds, which are strongest during summer and during winter storms, exert stress on the bay's water surface, thereby creating large waves that resuspend sediment from the shallow bay bottom and, together with the tidal currents, contribute markedly to the transport of water masses throughout the shallow estuary.     

Simulation of the maximum nitrate inflow (Imax) of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) grown under fluctuating climatic conditions in the greenhouse

Lettuce was grown in nutrient solution under fluctuating climatic conditions in the greenhouse. The maximum nitrate inflow (Imax) was measured twice a week to validate a model for calculating Imax, that was developed for constant conditions in a growth chamber.Growth and Imax were very similar between greenhouse and growth chamber plants, so that the model was able to predict Imax very precisely. The daily maximum nitrate inflow was calculated and its dependency on fluctuating temperature could be shown.     

A model relating the maximum nitrate inflow of lettuce (Lactuca satvia L.) to the growth of roots and shoots

The net inflow of nitrate can be calculated from the nitrate concentration at the root surface by means of the Michaelis-Menten equation. Because of maximum inflow (Imax) is not constant but varies with plant age and growing conditions, a model for calculating Imax during plant growth was derived. Lettuce was grown in nutrient solution. Variations in temperature, radiation and plant age were used to vary growth rates and N-demand of plants. There was a linear relationship between relative growth rates (RGR) and maximum nitrate inflow (Imax), that could be described by the following regression function: Imax = 0.24 + 6.57 RGR. A residual analysis showed a further influence on Imax from the root:shoot-ratio (RSR), the effects of which could be accounted for by including an e-function in the relationship: Imax = (0.27 + 10.63 RGR) e^{(–0.0017 RSR)}. This model for calculating Imax was validated in two further experiments.     

Two decades of macrophyte expansion on the shores of a large shallow northern temperate lake—A retrospective series of satellite images

We made use of a 22-year (1985-2007) retrospective archive of moderate resolution Landsat TM and ETM+ satellite images to estimate the changes in cover of emergent macrophytes in the large shallow eutrophic Lake Võrtsjärv (270 km²) in Estonia. An original non-parametric image interpretation methodology was applied on late summer images. The combined GIS and statistical analysis of 217 coastal sections showed that the helophytic macrophyte belt, dominated by common reed (Phragmites australis), has rapidly widened during the last two decades, with an average expansion rate of 2.2 m per year. Statistical model revealed that the vicinity of large inflows had the strongest positive effect on the expansion of macrophytes, on average 1.6 times. In some sub-regions of the lake shore, we found the suppressing effect of the presence of small inflows on the change of helophytic belt width. This effect, however, was probably interconnected with the presence of human activity at the shoreline, which itself had statistically near-marginal suppressing effect on the widening of the reed belt.We showed that medium resolution satellite images can successfully be used for the retrospective monitoring of macrophyte vegetation in the littoral zone of large water bodies by applying very simple image classification methodology. As the lake coastal areas showed a tendency to become overgrown with reed and other macrophytes even in conditions of generally reduced agricultural intensity in the catchment area, we hypothesize that the clonal expansion of reed is probably triggered by the complex of drivers: large seasonal fluctuations in the water level create specific low water conditions in estuaries in combination with nutrients supply resolved from lake bottom or brought by rivers. Estuary areas are characterised by mineral sediments suitable for anchoring and protection-provision against destructive wave- and ice-action.Probably the most efficient biodiversity conservation policy to revealed macrophytic expansion is the reactivation of disrupted management activities along the coastline.