RESUMO

Insects in general, and Drosophila in particular, are much more capable of surviving anoxia than vertebrates, and the mechanisms involved are of considerable biomedical and ecological interest. Temperature is likely to strongly affect both the rates of damage occurring in anoxia and the recovery processes in normoxia, but as yet there is no information on the effect of this crucial variable on recovery rates from anoxia in any animal. We studied the effects of temperature, and thus indirectly of metabolic flux rates, on survival and recovery times of individual male Drosophila melanogaster following anoxia and O(2) reperfusion. Individual flies were reared at 25°C and exposed to an anoxic period of 7.5, 25, 42.5 or 60 min at 20, 25 or 30°C. Before, during and after anoxic exposure the flies' metabolic rates (MRs), rates of water loss and activity indices were recorded. Temperature strongly affected the MR of the flies, with a Q(10) of 2.21. Temperature did not affect the slope of the relationship between time to recovery and duration of anoxic exposure, suggesting that thermal effects on damage and repair rates were similar. However, the intercept of that relationship was significantly lower (i.e. recovery was most rapid) at 25°C, which was the rearing temperature. When temperatures during exposure to anoxia and during recovery were switched, recovery times matched those predicted from a model in which the accumulation and clearance of metabolic end-products share a similar dependence on temperature.

Assuntos

Drosophila melanogaster/fisiologia , Hipóxia/metabolismo , Oxigênio/metabolismo , Temperatura , Animais , Masculino , Fotoquímica/métodos , Espirometria/instrumentação , Espirometria/métodos , Taxa de Sobrevida

RESUMO

We examine the relationship of seed oxygen consumption rate (V̇o2 ) to seed moisture content, seed mass, and seed age in 22 ecologically diverse tropical species. These seeds vary greatly in moisture content, age, mass, mechanism of dormancy and length of viability. We quantify each relationship with a power equation, V̇o2 =aXb , where X is the independent variable. Seed moisture content (MC) explains 80% of the variation in mass-specific V̇O2 (ml O2 g-1 h-1 ) among seeds of all species, whereas seed mass explains < 1%. However, when seeds are reclassified as moist (> 28% MC) or dry (≤ 28% MC), seed mass explains 54% of the variation in mass-specific V̇o2 (ml O2 g-1 h-1 ) within dry seeds, but no significant variation within moist seeds. In dry seeds, seed age explains only 27% of the variance in mass-specific Vo2 , although seed age and moisture content are negatively correlated. On a per seed basis, seed mass explains 54% of the variation in mass-specific V̇o2 (ml O2 h-1 per seed) in dry seeds and 83 % of the variation in moist seeds: the exponents of the power function, 0.54 in dry seeds and 0.78 in moist seeds, are within the range reported for the allometric relationship of oxygen consumption and body size in animals and prokaryotes. We present a framework for future studies that recognizes seed respiration as an important, yet unstudied, component of tropical seed ecophysiology. We discuss the ecological significance of seed respiration in three groups of tropical species which differ in seed moisture content, mass, viability, and post-dispersal moisture regimes: (1) shade-intolerant pioneer species with small, dry, orthodox seeds; (2) seasonally dormant species; and (3) shade-tolerant primary forest species with large, moist recalcitrant seeds.