DIFFUSION IN PLANT CUTICLES AS AFFECTED BY TEMPERATURE AND SIZE OF ORGANIC SOLUTES - SIMILARITY AND DIVERSITY AMONG SPECIES

Mobilities of liophilic organic solutes in cuticular membranes (CM) is olated from mature leaves of Citrus aurantium L., Citrus grandis L., H edera helix L., Ilex aquifolium L., Ilex paraguariensis St.-Hil., Malu s domestica Borkh., Pranus armeniaca L., Prunus laurocerasus L., Pyrus communis L., Pyrus pyrifolia (Burm. f.) Nakai, Stephanotis floribunda Brongn. and Strophantus gratus Baill. were measured over a temperatur e range of 15-78 degrees C. In this range, solute mobilities increased up to 1000-fold, which corresponds to temperature coefficients Q10 of 3 (IAA in P. armeniaca) to 14 (cholesterol in H. helix). For most spe cies, Arrhenius graphs showed good linearity up to 40 degrees C, and u p to 78 degrees C for some species, while for other activation energie s declined with increasing temperature. However, no distinct phase tra nsitions caused by sudden structural changes in the CM were observed, In three species we examined whether heating to 70 degrees C changed s olute mobility irreversibly by comparing Arrhenius graphs for two succ essive experiments with the same CM. The two graphs were very similar for P. laurocerasus, while mobilities in the second graph were somewha t reduced for C. aurantium and greatly increased (at 25 and 35 degrees C) for H. helix. This indicates rearrangements of at least some wax c onstituents when heated to high temperatures, The activation energies of diffusion (E-D) ranged hom 75 to 189 kJ mol(-1) depending on specie s and solute size, Size selectivity and variability between cuticles d ecreased with increasing temperature, and this is caused by difference s in E-D. An excellent correlation between the pre-exponential factor of the Arrhenius equation and E-D was observed, which is evidence that organic solutes differing greatly in molecular size (130-349 cm(3) mo l(-1)) and cuticle/water partition coefficient (25-10(8)) use similar diffusion paths in the CM of all 12 plant species tested, Diffusion oc curs in regions with identical physiochemical properties and differs o nly in magnitude.