The mangrove seedlings Bruguiera and Aviceania develop in a swamp environment where oxygen may be deficient and carbon dioxide in high concentration. Both of these states may be inimical to respiratory processes in plants and especially to the early stages of germination. While vivipary allows the development of the seedlings to a stage where they may better withstand the unfavourable conditions of the environment, nevertheless mangrove seedlings are still liberated when low oxygen concentrations can have severe effects. The developing Avicennia seedling, while on the parent tree, is surrounded by a tough pericarp which restricts gaseous diffusion and induces a partially anaerobic environment around the cotyledon tissues. The detection of high lactic acid levels in Avicennia seedlings may be linked with the carbon dioxide-rich atmospheres which build up around the tissues. It is possible that high levels of carbon dioxide induce the production of lactic acid, a non-toxic product of fermentation, rather than of the more toxic ethanol. Lactic acid is also formed during the initial stages of anaerobiosis in Bruguiera seedlings.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/275003 |
| Date | January 1973 |
| Creators | Outred, Heather Anne |
| Publisher | ResearchSpace@Auckland |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated., http://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htm, Copyright: The author |
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