Activity and properties of adenosine triphosphatase in erythrocytes and various tissues (brain, liver, kidney, small intestine mucosa) of cattle]

In 15 samples of haemolysate of bovine erythrocytes, the splitting of phosphate from adenosine triphosphate average 158 +/- 63 X 10(-3) muMol/min/g haemolysate haemoglobin. Estimation of total adenosine triphosphatase in homogenates of various organs from cattle showed that spleen, liver, kidney and brain possessed high activity, while the activity was moderate in lung, myocardium and skeletal muscle, and low in endometrial mucosa and spinal cord. There was a relatively large proportion of Na-K-adenosine triphosphatase in brain and kidney. In various organs the activity of the enzyme was dependent upon the concentrations of Mg, Na, K and Ca. The inhibition of adenosine triphosphatase in various tissues by ouabain was studied. The optimum pH for the enzyme lay in the weakly alkaline region.     

Biotic and abiotic drivers of intraspecific trait variation within plant populations of three herbaceous plant species along a latitudinal gradient

Background

The importance of intraspecific trait variation (ITV) is increasingly acknowledged among plant ecologists. However, our understanding of what drives ITV between individual plants (ITV_BI) at the population level is still limited. Contrasting theoretical hypotheses state that ITV_BI can be either suppressed (stress-reduced plasticity hypothesis) or enhanced (stress-induced variability hypothesis) under high abiotic stress. Similarly, other hypotheses predict either suppressed (niche packing hypothesis) or enhanced ITV_BI (individual variation hypothesis) under high niche packing in species rich communities. In this study we assess the relative effects of both abiotic and biotic niche effects on ITV_BI of four functional traits (leaf area, specific leaf area, plant height and seed mass), for three herbaceous plant species across a 2300 km long gradient in Europe. The study species were the slow colonizing Anemone nemorosa, a species with intermediate colonization rates, Milium effusum, and the fast colonizing, non-native Impatiens glandulifera.

Results

Climatic stress consistently increased ITV_BI across species and traits. Soil nutrient stress, on the other hand, reduced ITV_BI for A. nemorosa and I. glandulifera, but had a reversed effect for M. effusum. We furthermore observed a reversed effect of high niche packing on ITV_BI for the fast colonizing non-native I. glandulifera (increased ITV_BI), as compared to the slow colonizing native A. nemorosa and M. effusum (reduced ITV_BI). Additionally, ITV_BI in the fast colonizing species tended to be highest for the vegetative traits plant height and leaf area, but lowest for the measured generative trait seed mass.

Conclusions

This study shows that stress can both reduce and increase ITV_BI, seemingly supporting both the stress-reduced plasticity and stress-induced variability hypotheses. Similarly, niche packing effects on ITV_BI supported both the niche packing hypothesis and the individual variation hypothesis. These results clearly illustrates the importance of simultaneously evaluating both abiotic and biotic factors on ITV_BI. This study adds to the growing realization that within-population trait variation should not be ignored and can provide valuable ecological insights.