Date: Thu, 09 Jan 1997 10:38:21 +1000 From: Frank Udovicic <F.Udovicic@pican.pi.csiro.au> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg123$foo@default> Subject: Re: Nitrogen uptake
AJ Hicks wrote...
> *SNIP!
> I was asked by an ecologist friend how she might measure the nitrogen budget
> of a carnivorous pitcher plant. She wants to know how efficiently
> nitrogen-containing compounds from the decaying/digesting prey in the pitcher
> are absorbed and utilized by the plant.
> *SNIP!*
Dear Aaron
Here are a couple of references dealing with Nitrogen uptake in Droseras
that may be helpful....
*E.-D. Schulze, G. Gebauer, W. Schulze, and J.S. Pate (1991). The
utilization of nitrogen from insect capture by different growth forms of
_Drosera_ from Southwest Australia. Oecologia 87: 240-246.
In this study the 15N/14N natural isotope composition of prey, prey-free
plants, and plants with prey was compared to get estimates of N nutrition.
*K.W. Dixon, J.S. Pate and W.J.Bailey (1980). Nitrogen Nutrition of the
Tuberous Sundew _Drosera erythrorhiza_ Lindl. with Special Reference to
Catch of Arthropod Fauna by its Glandular Leaves. Australian Journal of
Botany 28: 283-297.
This paper might be more relevant for your needs? They fed 15N-labelled
flies (yeast was raised on a growth medium with (15NH4)2SO4 as the labelled
N source, then the _Drosophila_ were raised on an agar medium containing the
15N-labelled yeast) to the leaf rosettes of the Droseras and traced the 15N
over two subsequent seasons of growth so they could trace the 15N in
successive generations of tubers. Arginine of the tubers was labelled with
15N. 15N-enrichment was assayed by optical emission spectrometry (Lewis
and Pate, 1973, J. Exp. Bot. 24: 596-606.)
I hope this is helpful, good luck!
Frank.
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Dr Frank Udovicic
Australian National Herbarium Email: F.Udovicic@pi.csiro.au
CSIRO Plant Industry Phone: +61 (0)6 246 5177
GPO Box 1600, Canberra Fax: +61 (0)6 246 5249
ACT 2601 AUSTRALIA http://rubens.its.unimelb.edu.au/~franku/
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