Oxygen-18 content of atmospheric oxygen does not affect the oxygen isotope relationship between environmental water and cellulose in a submerged aquatic plant, Egeria densa Planch

Journal Article · Sun Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1989 · Plant Physiology; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.91.2.536· OSTI ID:5841452

Cooper, L W; DeNiro, M J ^[1]

---

1. Univ. of California, Los Angeles (USA)

We determined that the oxygen isotopic composition of cellulose synthesized by a submerged plant, Egeria densa Planch., is related to the isotopic composition of environmental water by a linear function, {delta}{sup 18}O cellulose = 0.48 {delta}{sup 18}O water + 24.1{per thousand}. The observation of a slope of less than 1 indicates that a portion of cellulose oxygen is derived from an isotopically constant source other than water. We tested whether this source might be molecular oxygen by growing plants in the presence of high concentrations of {sup 18}O in the form of O{sub 2} bubbled into the bottom of an aquarium. Cellulose synthesized during this experiment did not have significantly different oxygen isotope ratios than that synthesized by control plants exposed to O{sub 2} of normal {sup 18}O abundance. We propose that oxygen in organic matter recycled from senescent portions of the plant is incorporated into cellulose. Our findings indicate that paleoclimatic models linking the oxygen isotope composition of environmental water to cellulose from fossil plants will have to be modified to account for contributions of oxygen from this or other sources besides water.

• OSTI ID: 5841452
• Journal Information: Plant Physiology; (USA), Vol. 91:2; ISSN 0032-0889
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
CELLULOSE
BIOCHEMISTRY
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
ISOTOPE RATIO
OXYGEN 18
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PALEOCLIMATOLOGY
TRACER TECHNIQUES
WATER QUALITY
CARBOHYDRATES
CHEMISTRY
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
NUCLEI
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN ISOTOPES
PALEONTOLOGY
POLYSACCHARIDES
SACCHARIDES
STABLE ISOTOPES
550201* - Biochemistry- Tracer Techniques
540210 - Environment
Terrestrial- Basic Studies- (1990-)