Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
BOHDAN SLAVIK
Department of Plant Physiology, Institute of"Biology, CzechoslowtkAcademy of Sciences, Praha
Received February 24. 1958
Souhrn
Summary
39
40 B. SLAV~[K
Introduction
Within the plant organism there exist progressive changes in the physio-
logical (and as a consequence also in the morphological) characters of organs,
their parts, tissues and cells, as a function of their relative positions (P~AT, H.
1948 and 1951). These physiological and morphological gradients are prima-
rily determined by the previous development of these parts. Many of them are
28
26
24
2Z
ZO
18
o/
18
I I
1"347. 1"345 1-~50
Fig. 1. Relation of osmotic pressure of cell sap (ordinate in atm.) of sugar beet leaves to their
refractive index (abscissa) in the experimental period (October 1957).
closely and directly connected with the water relations and their polarity.
The existence of axial gradients of the anatomical and physiological features
of xeromorphism in leaves, according to the level of insertion is known (Za-
lensky's law). Recently their physiological investigation has been linked
with the study of the physiology of xerophytes (recent work by GENKEL'
1946, SIMONIS 1941 and 1952, ZNAMENSKY 1948, MAXIMOV 1952, STOCKER
1954, 1956, KILLIAN and LEM]~E 1956, FARKAS and RAJttITHY 1955, CETL
1957, and others).
In view of the polarity of leaves during ontogenesis the existence of physio-
logical gradients within a single leaf blade may be anticipated. Heterogeneity
within the leaf blade has not yet been investigated, although it is theoretically
OSMOTIC PRESSURE IN THE AREA OF ONE LEAF BLADE 41
Methods
T h e correlation g r a p h (fig. l), d r a w n u p ad hoc on t h e basis o f 36 c o n c u r r e n t d e t e r m i n a t i o n s
of t h e refractive i n d e x ( A b b e ' s u n i v e r s a l r e f r a c t o m e t e r ) a n d t h e cryoseopie m e a s u r e m e n t of
t h e o s m o t i c p r e s s u r e of cell s a p f r o m killed (100 ~ C) leaf tissue of s u g a r beet, s h o w s a practically
linear relation b e t w e e n t h e two v a l u e s w i t h i n t h e limits of t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l period (October).
T h i s relation c a n be r e g a r d e d as reliable for practical application.*) T h i s m a d e it possible to
m a k e a sufficiently a c c u r a t e e s t i m a t e of o s m o t i c p r e s u r e f r o m t h e refractive index, i. e. osmoti(:
p r e s s u r e could be m e a s u r e d in a m a n n e r w h i c h e n a b l e d t h e r e q u i r e d large n u m b e r of s m a l l s a m p l e s
o f leaf t i s s u e to be d e a l t with. I n t h i s w a y t h e os-
m o t i c p r e s s u r e of cell s a p f r o m i n d i v i d u a l killed
sectors of t h e leaf b l a d e o f s u g a r beet (Beta vulgaris
ssp. esculenta [SALISB.] Gff~KE var. altissima R o E s s m )
v a r i e t y Dobrovickd A w a s indirectly m e a s u r e d . F o r
t h e s e e x p e r i m e n t s leaves of m e d i u m i n s e r t i o n level
were g a t h e r e d f r o m t h e e n d of S e p t e m b e r to t h e
e n d of October 1957. T h e o s m o t i c v a l u e m e a s u r e d
was r e g a r d e d as a q u a n t i t a t i v e e x p r e s s i o n of t h e
h y d r a t i o n of t h e tissue. E a c h h a l f of t h e leaf blade
w a s d i v i d e d in e a c h case into eleven sectors (fig. 2
a n d 3), t h e a b s o l u t e size of w h i c h w a s d e t e r m i n e d b y
t h e a b s o l u t e size of t h e leaf blade. T h i s v a r i e d a r o u n d
a n a v e r a g e of 27 18 cm. T h e v a l u e s g i v e n were
d e t e r m i n e d w i t h different controlled s t a t e s of w a t e r
17.6 16.8 16.8 17.6
s a t u r a t i o n a n d w i t h different w a t e r b a l a n c e s in
n a t u r a l a n d artificial e x p e r i m e n t a l conditions. T h e
r e s u l t s r e c o r d e d r e p r e s e n t a v e r a g e s f r o m a larger 16.2 154 15-7 16.2
u u m b e r of d e t e r m i n a t i o n s (n a b o u t 20 to 30).
A t o t a l of 1,300 s a m p l e s w a s d e a l t w i t h i n t h e
period s t a t e d .
I w i s h to e x p r e s s m y sincere t h a n k s to Mrs.
M. K r e j c a r o v h for h e r t e c h n i c a l a s s i s t a n c e .
Results
With regard to the refractive index of cell sap, both halves of the blade of an
*) T h e e x i s t e n c e of t h i s p r a c t i c a l l y linear r e l a t i o n of t h e v a l u e s is l i m i t e d to a q u i t e definite
d e v e l o p m e n t a l s t a g e a n d to a definite p a r t of t h e v e g e t a t i v e period. I t is in f a c t o n l y v a l i d insofar
as t h e relative q u a n t i t a t i v e c o m p o s i t i o n of t h e o s m o t i c a l l y active s u b s t a n c e s dissolved in t h e
cell s a p does n o t u n d e r g o a n y m a r k e d c h a n g e (SLAviK 1959). T h e relation i l l u s t r a t e d in fig. l
is n o t q u i t e linear. U n d e r t h e s i m p l i f y i n g a s s u m p t i o n of l i n e a r i t y its correlation coefficient is
r ~ ~ 0"98, r e g r e s s i o n coefficient b y ~ 1-37 ( a t m . to t h o u s a n d t h u n i t s of t h e refractive index)
42 B. SLAVIK
adult sugar beet leaf were mutually symmetrical, both relatively and absolute-
ly (fig. 2). Corresponding values differed from each other on an average b y
less than 1%, maximally b y 1.5%. This result is especially important for
observation of the relative changes in osmotic pressure from corresponding
places, when the water balance is active or passive and of varying intensity.
A B C D
18"6 19'6
F i g . 3. D i s t r i b u t i o n o f o s m o t i c p r e s s u r e o f cell s a p o n h a l f t h e s u r f a c e o f t h e l e a f b l a d e o f s u g a r
beet in two sets of experiments (A a n d ]3 i n a t m o s p h e r e s , C a n d D i n p e r c e n t a g e o f
o s m o t i c p r e s s u r e a t t h e b a s e o f t h e b l a d e ; A a n d C : n = 36, B a n d D : n ~ 31).
These changes have been studied in another paper. Here we were concerned
only with establishing the changes in gradient within the leaf blade, i. e.
with the comparison of values within the same half of the leaf blade. The
symmetry of the two halves of the blade gives a guarantee that the gradients
in the two halves behave similarly under similar conditions.
The distribution of the average osmotic pressure of cell sap within one half
of the sugar beet leaf under natural field conditions in the morning (8 a. m.)
state of water saturation (resaturation at night) for two sets of experiments
(n z 36 and 31) provides a basic survey (fig. 3). The graphic illustration of
the axial gradient base of the blade tip along the main ribs (figs. 4, continuous
lines) as a percentage of the osmotic pressure at the base shows that osmotic
pressure increase is roughly linear according to position in relation to the
longitudinal axis of the blade, so that the gradient remains essentially the same
along the whole length of the blade. In this and other similar graphs it is
possible to observe a weak, but in almost all cases clear reduction in the
longitudinal osmotic gradient in the middle of the upper half of the leaf blade
(between points 3 and 4).
OSMOTIC PRESSURE IN THE AREA OF ONE LEAF BLADE 43
130
deficit), with water supplied through
the petiole or not, changed the relative
- distribution of osmotic pressure of cell
sap over the area of the leaf blade,
because all changes in these values took
//
place in parallel over the whole area.
- 120
/// Discussion
/
Considerable differences were ascer-
tained in the hydration of different
-m / parts of the sugar-beet leaf blade and
/
O
//
1
I
2
I
3
I
4 T
I
these corresponded to the natural gra-
dient along the main axis and trans-
versely (from edge to centre). Both
halves of the blade behaved quite sym-
metrically. The positive gradient of the
osmotic presure of cell sap from the
Fig. 5. Similar r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of the axial base of the leaf blade to the tip and
gradient as fig. 4. Continous line: wilting from the mid-rib to the edge is an
leaf blade w i t h o u t w a t e r supply t h r o u g h
petiole. D a s h e d line: axial gradient o f the expression of a decreasing degree of
second half of t h e blade before wilting
(n = 26).
140
e~lll"*~'llll
I
w i t h w a t e r supply t h r o u g h petiole.
120 /, . '/". /
w a t e r deficit 0 to 2 % , average
l~o, average rate o f increase o f
0-6~o per hour;
w a t e r deficit 2 to 6%, average
5'1~o, average rate of increase
2.2% p e r hour; 110 ~,//
. . . . . w a t e r deficit 6 to 10~o, average
8.3~o, average rate of increase r 1
8.8~o per hour;
....... w a t e r deficit > 10~o , average
14.4~o, average rate of increase
15~/o per hour.
100
l
/I I
I
2
I
3
I
4
I
T
OSMOTIC PRESSURE 1R~ T H E A R E A O F O N E L E A F B L A D E 45
References
PeamMe