Abstract
During peak thermogenesis of anthesis, high rates of respiration by the sterile male florets on the spadix ofPhilodendron selloum significantly reduce the oxygen tension (PO 2) and raise CO2 tension between the florets. Nevertheless, respiration is not limited by the availability of O2 under natural conditions. At experimental PO 2 below about 17 kPa, however, florets begin to show decreased O2 consumption. A respiratory exchange ratio of 0.83 indicates that the major energy source is not starch, but is probably lipid.
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Abbreviations
- \(\beta _{O_2 } \) :
-
capacitance of the gas phase for O2 (ml O2 cm-3 kPa-1)
- DO 2 :
-
binary diffusion coefficient of O2 in air (cm2 min-1)
- KO 2 :
-
Krogh's diffusion coefficient (ml O2 cm-2 min-1 kPa-1 cm)
- PO 2 PCO 2 :
-
partial pressures of O2 and CO2 (kPa)
- \(\dot V_{O_2 } \) :
-
rate of O2 consumption (ml O2 g-1 h-1)
- Fgas :
-
fractional gas volume
- P80 :
-
O2 partial pressure at which\(\dot V_{O_2 } \) falls below 80% of maximum
- RE:
-
respiratory exchange ratio\((\dot V_{CO_2 } /\dot V_{O_2 } )\)
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Seymour, R.S., Barnhart, M.C. & Bartholomew, G.A. Respiratory gas exchange during thermogenesis inPhilodendron selloum Koch. Planta 161, 229–232 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00982917
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00982917