COMPARATIVE NUCLEAR-MAGNETIC-RESONANCE STUDIES OF DIFFUSIONAL WATER PERMEABILITY OF RED-BLOOD-CELLS FROM DIFFERENT SPECIES .9. AUSTRALIAN FERAL CHICKEN AND DOMESTIC CHICKEN (GALLUS-DOMESTICUS)

The diffusional water permeability (P-d) of Australian feral chicken a nd Australian and European domestic chicken red blood cells (RBCs) was measured by a doping nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique. The values of P-d were around 1.7 x 10(-3) cm/s at 15 degrees C, 2.0 x 10( -3) cm/s at 20 degrees C, 2.5 x 10(-3) cm/s at 25 degrees C, 3.7 x 10( -3) cm/s at 30 degrees C, 4.3 x 10(-3) cm/s at 37 degrees C, and 6.1 x 10(-3) cm/s at 42 degrees C, with no significant differences between the three strains of chicken. There was no effect of p-chloromercuribe nzene sulphonate on water diffusion. The activation energy of water di ffusion was around 37 kJ/mol for all strains of chicken. These results suggest that no changes in the RBC water permeability are correlated with marked alterations in the habitat of chicken introduced to Austra lia (and that membrane proteins play little role in the diffusion of w ater across chicken RBC membrane).