O2 Dynamics Research Articles

A meta-analysis of plant tissue O2 dynamics.

Adequate tissue O2 supply is crucial for plant function. We aimed to identify the environmental conditions and plant characteristics that affect plant tissue O2 status. We extracted data and performed meta-analysis on >1500 published tissue O2 measurements from 112 species. Tissue O2 status ranged from anoxic conditions in roots to >53kPa in submerged, photosynthesising shoots. Using information-theoretic model selection, we identified 'submergence', 'light', 'tissue type' as well as 'light×submergence' interaction as significant drivers of tissue O2 status. Median O2 status were especially low (Solanum tuberosum ) tubers and root nodules. Mean shoot and root O2 were ~25% higher in light than in dark when shoots had atmospheric contact. However, light showed a significant interaction with submergence on plant O2 , with a submergence-induced 44% increase in light, compared with a 42% decline in dark, relative to plants with atmospheric contact. During submergence, ambient water column O2 and shoot tissue O2 correlated stronger in darkness than in light conditions. Although use of miniaturised Clark-type O2 electrodes has enhanced understanding of plant O2 dynamics, application of non-invasive methods in plants is still lacking behind its widespread use in mammalian tissues.

Relationship Between Muscle Deoxygenation and Cardiac Output in Subjects Without Attenuation of Deoxygenation Hemoglobin Concentration Near the End of Ramp Cycling Exercise: A Longitudinal Study.

The aim of this study was to investigate the longitudinal relationship between the slopes of systemic and quadriceps muscle O2 dynamics in subjects without attenuation point in deoxygenated hemoglobin concentration at vastus lateralis (APdeoxy-Hb@VL) during high-intensity cycling. Seven young men without APdeoxy-Hb@VL performed ramp cycling exercise until exhaustion before and after 8weeks, while continuing recreational physical activities throughout that period. Muscle O2 saturation (SmO2) and deoxy-Hb were monitored at the vastus lateralis (VL) and rectus femoris (RF) by near infrared spectroscopy oximetry during exercise. Cardiac output (CO) was also continuously assessed. During high-intensity exercise, at VL, a significantly steeper slope of deoxy-Hb was found after 8weeks compared with before, while the slopes of deoxy-Hb at RF were not significantly changed. Though a decrease in the slope of CO after 8weeks did not reach significance (p=0.12), the change in the slope of CO was significantly related to the change in the slopes of deoxy-Hb at VL (rs=-0.89, p<0.01) and RF (rs=-0.86, p<0.05). Our data reinforces the idea that, in subjects without APdeoxy-Hb@VL, the slope of muscle deoxygenation at VL during high-intensity cycling exercise may partly be explained by systemic O2 supply, rather than O2 balance in other thigh muscles.

Imaging the snorkel effect during submerged germination in rice: Oxygen supply via the coleoptile triggers seminal root emergence underwater.

Submergence during germination impedes aerobic metabolisms and limits the growth of most higher plants. However, some wetland plants including rice can germinate under submerged conditions. It has long been hypothesized that the first elongating shoot tissue, the coleoptile, acts as a snorkel to acquire atmospheric oxygen (O2) to initiate the first leaf elongation and seminal root emergence. Here, we obtained direct evidence for this hypothesis by visualizing the spatiotemporal O2 dynamics during submerged germination in rice using a planar O2 optode system. In parallel with the O2 imaging, we tracked the anatomical development of shoot and root tissues in real-time using an automated flatbed scanner. Three hours after the coleoptile tip reached the water surface, O2 levels around the embryo transiently increased. At this time, the activity of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), an enzyme critical for anaerobic metabolism, was significantly reduced, and the coleorhiza covering the seminal roots in the embryo was broken. Approximately 10 h after the transient burst in O2, seminal roots emerged. A transient O2 burst around the embryo was shown to be essential for seminal root emergence during submerged rice germination. The parallel application of a planar O2 optode system and automated scanning system can be a powerful tool for examining how environmental conditions affect germination in rice and other plants.

Hypersalinity effects on O2 flux across the diffusive boundary layer of leaves in the tropical seagrass Thalassia testudinum

Hypersalinity is a major stressor to seagrasses, particularly in highly evaporative coastal estuaries and lagoons as well as those subjected to brine effluent from desalination systems, a condition likely to be heightened under a warming climate. While hypersalinity has been well established to cause physiological dysfunction, the effects on internal seagrass pO2 and O2 flux to the water column has not been explicitly studied. We examined the pO2 across the leaf diffusive boundary layer and estimated O2 flux rates from T. testudinum leaves at 35, 45, 55, and 65 salinity in the light and dark using O2 microsensors. Leaf segments were used to examine photophysiological responses and leaves of shoots in intact cores with multiple shoots to evaluate internal leaf pO2 flux that incorporates whole-plant sinks. Steady-state pO2 levels internally and at the leaf surface were also quantified at light saturation and in the dark. We found hypersalinity (45–65) primarily affected the O2 dynamics of T. testudinum leaves in the light based on leaf segments and whole plants. Net and gross photosynthetic rates of leaf segments were significantly lower at 55 and 65 salinities compared to controls (35), and net photosynthesis at 65 salinity was significantly lower than at 55 salinity. In contrast, the light required to compensate for leaf respiration (Icomp) was not affected by hypersalinity, and photosynthetic efficiency was only significant between 35 and 55 salinities above compensation irradiances (Φ(I comp – 200)), suggesting lesser effects of hypersalinity on photosynthesis at low irradiance below compensation (0–50 μmol photon m−2 s−1). We propose that hypersalinity, particularly ≥55 causes photosynthetic dysfunction limiting leaf O2 production, specifically Pmax at high irradiance. Further, our data indicate that with increasing hypersalinity more of the O2 produced by leaves in intact shoots is consumed by meristems and/or belowground tissues and the sediment. These O2 sinks are likely more significant than O2 lost to leaf respiration (RD) that was not shown to increase with salinity in experiments using leaves in isolation. Thus, hypersalinity not only affects the physiology, growth and reproduction of seagrasses, but also their O2 balance. For seagrass species growing at their upper salinity thresholds, a management strategy that lowers hypersalinity exposure would limit loss of seagrasses to O2 imbalance from hypersalinity effects on photosynthesis and ecosystem O2 demand.

Low irradiance disrupts the internal O2 dynamics of seagrass (Thalassia testudinum) leading to shoot meristem H2S intrusion

Hypoxia and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) intrusion at night contribute to large-scale seagrass mortality events world-wide. Declining water quality has lowered irradiance and enhanced hypoxia in seagrass ecosystems, but linkages between low irradiance and seagrass internal pO2in situ are not well understood. We examined low irradiance effects on leaf and meristem pO2 dynamics of a dominant tropical seagrass, Thalassia testudinum, using microsensors over multiple diurnal cycles. Further, we determined how O2 dynamics affect H2S intrusion into shoot meristems under low irradiance. Sequential days of low irradiance disrupted internal leaf O2 status in three ways: i) causing a longer lag in morning O2 pressurization, ii) depressing maximum pO2 during the day, and iii) shortening the time where maximum pO2 was sustained into the afternoon. There was a close relationship between leaf and water column pO2 during the day (R2 = 0.93 ± 0.09); thus, internal O2 dynamics appear more dependent on water column pO2 under low irradiance. The nighttime minimum of leaf and meristem pO2 (1.2 and 0.4 kPa, respectively) were very low and the length of time the meristem sustained hypoxia (< 1.5 kPa pO2) at night was high (9:40 h:min). H2S intrusion into the meristem at night following 24–48 h of shading was persistent, likely the combined effect of limited internal O2 flow without saturating irradiances for photosynthesis, and a breakdown of the sediment oxic microshield. Under low irradiance, more frequent intrusions of H2S to the meristems increases the chances of large-scale seagrass mortality events at night.

Simultaneous visualization of flow fields and oxygen concentrations to unravel transport and metabolic processes in biological systems

SummaryFrom individual cells to whole organisms, O2 transport unfolds across micrometer- to millimeter-length scales and can change within milliseconds in response to fluid flows and organismal behavior. The spatiotemporal complexity of these processes makes the accurate assessment of O2 dynamics via currently available methods difficult or unreliable. Here, we present “sensPIV,” a method to simultaneously measure O2 concentrations and flow fields. By tracking O2-sensitive microparticles in flow using imaging technologies that allow for instantaneous referencing, we measured O2 transport within (1) microfluidic devices, (2) sinking model aggregates, and (3) complex colony-forming corals. Through the use of sensPIV, we find that corals use ciliary movement to link zones of photosynthetic O2 production to zones of O2 consumption. SensPIV can potentially be extendable to study flow-organism interactions across many life-science and engineering applications.

Irradiance, Water Column O2, and Tide Drive Internal O2 Dynamics and Meristem H2S Detection in the Dominant Caribbean-Tropical Atlantic Seagrass, Thalassia testudinum

Irradiance, Water Column O2, and Tide Drive Internal O2 Dynamics and Meristem H2S Detection in the Dominant Caribbean-Tropical Atlantic Seagrass, Thalassia testudinum

Contrasting effects of straw and biochar on microscale heterogeneity of soil O2 and pH: Implication for N2O emissions

Little is known about the microscale heterogeneity of O2 and pH in the interfaces between soil and amendments. In this study, planar optodes were applied to continuously measure the micro-scale O2 and pH dynamics in soil amended with a patch of straw and its biochar. The recalcitrant biochar with high porosity had stronger capability to maintain the oxic zone around the patch area. Mainly through diffusion of alkali carbonates, the biochar increased the soil pH within a few hours but in constrained area (<4.5 mm from the surface of the biochar patch). Such high pH coupled with oxic conditions largely restricted N2O emissions in the biochar treatment. The sufficient labile carbon from straw induced fast O2 consumption with microoxic development in the straw-soil interfaces, while its porous structure could enhance O2 diffusive inputs in the core area, therefore, the microoxic area was formed as a concentric ring around the straw patch. Such enriched oxic-microoxic transient zones would induce nitrification coupled denitrification, which led to the high N2O emissions. Additionally, the microbial degradation of straw resulted in a pulse decline of soil pH, which possibly inhibited the N2O reductases, consequently enhanced N2O emissions. Those results demonstrate the contrasting effects of straw and straw derived biochar on microscale O2 and pH localization as well as the associated N2O emissions. It will contribute to a better understanding of the driving factors for N transformations on a microscale and has the potential to become valuable tool in environmental monitoring.

Systemic and Quadriceps Muscle O2 Dynamics in Subjects Without Attenuation Point of Deoxygenated Haemoglobin Concentration During Ramp Cycling Exercise.

The aim of this study was to compare systemic and quadriceps muscle O2 dynamics between aerobic capacity-matched subjects without (NAP; n=5) and with (CON; n=13) attenuation point in deoxygenated haemoglobin concentration (deoxy-Hb) at vastus lateralis (APdeoxy-Hb@VL) during ramp cycling exercise. Muscle O2 saturation (SmO2) and deoxy-Hb were monitored at the vastus lateralis (VL), rectus femoris (RF), and vastus medialis (VM) by spatial resolved near infrared spectroscopy during exercise. Cardiac output (CO) and pulmonary O2 uptake (VO2) were also continuously measured. During high-intensity exercise, in NAP, steeper slopes of both deoxy-Hb and SmO2 were found at VM, similar to VL muscle. Additionally, at RF, the slope of deoxy-Hb was steeper in NAP than CON. While the slope of pulmonary VO2 was similar between groups, the slope of CO was shallower in NAP than CON. During moderate intensity exercise, the slopes of all variables were similar between groups. These results suggest that the slope of muscle deoxygenation was enhanced not only in VL but also other thigh muscles in NAP, compared to CON. Because the slope of CO was associated with the slope of SmO2 and deoxy-Hb at VL during high-intensity exercise, the differences in subjects with and without APdeoxy-Hb@VL may be partly explained by systemic O2 supply, rather than O2 balance in the other quadriceps muscles.

Soil oxygen depletion and corresponding nitrous oxide production at hot moments in an agricultural soil

Hot moments of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions induced by interactions between weather and management make a major contribution to annual N2O budgets in agricultural soils. The causes of N2O production during hot moments are not well understood under field conditions, but emerging evidence suggests that short-term fluctuations in soil oxygen (O2) concentration can be critically important. We conducted high time-resolution field observations of O2 and N2O concentrations during hot moments in a dryland agricultural soil in Northern China. Three typical management and weather events, including irrigation (Irr.), fertilization coupled with irrigation (Fer.+Irr.) or with extreme precipitation (Fer.+Pre.), were observed. Soil O2 and N2O concentrations were measured hourly for 24 h immediately following events and measured daily for at least one week before and after the events. Soil moisture, temperature, and mineral N were simultaneously measured. Soil O2 concentrations decreased rapidly within 4 h following irrigation in both the Irr. and Fer.+Irr. events. In the Fer.+Pre. event, soil O2 depletion did not occur immediately following fertilization but began following subsequent continuous rainfall. The soil O2 concentration dropped to as low as 0.2% (with the highest soil N2O concentration of up to 180 ppmv) following the Fer.+Pre. event, but only fell to 11.7% and 13.6% after the Fer.+Irr. and Irr. events, which were associated with soil N2O concentrations of 27 ppmv and 3 ppmv, respectively. During the hot moments of all three events, soil N2O concentrations were negatively correlated with soil O2 concentrations (r = −0.5, P < 0.01), showing a quadratic increase as soil O2 concentrations declined. Our results provide new understanding of the rapid short response of N2O production to O2 dynamics driven by changes in soil environmental factors during hot moments. Such understanding helps improve soil management to avoid transitory O2 depletion and reduce the risk of N2O production.

Benthic foraminiferal carbon cycling in coastal zone sediments: The influence of the assemblage structure and jellyfish detritus

Jellyfish carrion is an important carbon source to the benthic ecosystem that is expected to increase in some regions in the future, but its potential impact on sediment biochemical processes is not fully understood. Benthic foraminifera play important carbon processing roles in marine ecosystems but little is known about how they process carbon within fjords, or how jellyfish detritus on the sediment may affect this role. This study is the first to use 13C-labelled algae to quantify how jellyfish detritus may alter benthic foraminiferal microalgal-carbon uptake (C-uptake) from the inner to outer fjord. To assess potential mechanisms for variations in C-uptake, foraminiferal biomass, density, and assemblage composition, in addition to the sediment O2 dynamics and environmental parameters (e.g. sediment total organic carbon [TOC] content) were investigated. Benthic foraminiferal C-cycling strongly varied within the fjord with 20-times higher C-uptake rates at the inner-fjord location compared to the locations further outwards. This difference was likely caused by the higher foraminiferal biomass and relative abundances of Bulimina marginata and Nonionella turgida at the inner location. Strong differences in foraminiferal assemblage structure amongst the locations were not explained by major differences in the investigated environmental parameters. Changes in sediment O2 dynamics suggested that jellyfish detritus obstructed O2 diffusion into the sediment. A potential effect of these changes on the C-uptake was only observed at the inner location, indicating the effect of jellyfish detritus on foraminiferal C-uptake rates was little and dependent on the benthic foraminiferal assemblage composition (e.g. the presence of B. marginata). This suggests that the areas in coastal zones where the highest amounts of organic carbon are being processed may also be the most sensitive to changes in the sediment O2 dynamics, which would make them vulnerable to changes in riverine input and anthropogenic organic carbon enrichment.

O2 distribution and dynamics in the rhizosphere of Phragmites australis, and implications for nutrient removal in sediments

Root-triggered microscale variations in O2 distribution in the rhizosphere of young Phragmites australis are important for nutrient removal in sediments. In this study, the micro-scale O2 dynamics and the small-scale changes of soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) and ammonium (NH4+) in the rhizosphere of P. australis were investigated using planar optodes and high-resolution dialysis (HR-Peeper), respectively. Results suggested that root O2 leakage has a highly variable distribution depending on the stage of root growth, the site of O2 leakage gradually shift from the entire emerging main roots to the main root tip and subsequently shifted the emerging lateral roots. The O2 concentration increased in the rhizosphere with increasing light intensity and O2 levels in the overlying water. Continuous O2 release from the lateral roots causes the formation of iron plaque on the surface of lateral roots, which reduce the mobility of P by adsorption of iron plaque in the rhizosphere. The oscillation of oxic-anoxic root zones improves nitrogen removal through the processes of anammox, heterotrophic denitrification and nitrification. This work from the micro-scale demonstrates that the O2 concentration is the spatio-temporal variations in the rhizosphere, and it presents an important role for nutrient removal in sediments.

Implication of O2 dynamics for both N2O and CH4 emissions from soil during biological soil disinfestation

Soil O2 dynamics have significant influences on greenhouse gas emissions during soil management practice. In this study, we deployed O2-specific planar optodes to visualize spatiotemporal distribution of O2 in soils treated with biological soil disinfestation (BSD). This study aimed to reveal the role of anoxia development on emissions of N2O and CH4 from soil amended with crop residues during BSD period. The incorporation of crop residues includes wheat straw only, wheat straw with biochar and early straw incorporation. The anoxia in soil developed very fast within 3 days, while the O2 in headspace decreased much slower and it became anaerobic after 5 days, which was significantly affected by straw and biochar additions. The N2O emissions were positively correlated with soil hypoxic fraction. The CH4 emissions were not significant until the anoxia dominated in both soil and headspace. The co-application of biochar with straw delayed the anoxia development and extended the hypoxic area in soil, resulting in lower emissions of N2O and CH4. Those results highlight that the soil O2 dynamic was the key variable triggering the N2O and CH4 productions. Therefore, detailed information of soil O2 availability could be highly beneficial for optimizing the strategies of organic amendments incorporation in the BSD technique.

Resolving community metabolism of eelgrass Zostera marina meadows by benthic flume-chambers and eddy covariance in dynamic coastal environments

Sediment resuspension is a common process in dynamic coastal settings, but its implications for remineralization and carbon turnover in seagrass meadows are poorly understood. Here, we assessed eelgrass Zostera marina metabolism in the Baltic Sea (SW Finland) using benthic flume-chambers and aquatic eddy covariance to critically evaluate the drivers of benthic O2 exchange during dynamic flow conditions. During quiescent weather conditions, the 2 methods resolved similar metabolic rates and net ecosystem autotrophy (±11% of each other). However, elevated flow speeds and sediment resuspension halfway through the study induced a 5-fold increase in the O2 uptake rates measured by eddy covariance, whereas chamber fluxes remained relatively unchanged. Following particle resettlement, instruments were redeployed and the benthic O2 uptake resolved by both techniques was just ~30% of the values measured before resuspension. Laboratory investigations revealed sediment resuspension could potentially increase benthic O2 uptake up to 6fold, mainly due to the reoxidation of reduced compounds (e.g. FeSx). This process was fully captured by the eddy O2 fluxes, but not by the chamber incubation. Consequently, the chamber and eddy net ecosystem metabolism amounted to -17 and -824 mmol C m-2, respectively, throughout the study period. The rapid reoxidation and long-term effects of resuspension on benthic O2 dynamics highlight the importance of fully capturing dynamic conditions when assessing the overall carbon turnover in coastal habitats. Future studies on the biogeochemical functioning of coastal environments should aim to capture the natural frequency and duration of resuspension events.

Skeletal Muscle Deoxygenation and Its Relationship to Aerobic Capacity During Early and Late Stages of Aging.

The aim of this study was to compare muscle O2 dynamics during exercise among elderly (n=10, age: 73±3years), middle-aged (n=9, age: 50±6years), and young (n=10, age: 25±3years) adults. The subjects performed ramp bicycle exercise until exhaustion. Muscle O2 saturation (SmO2) and relative changes from rest in oxygenated hemoglobin/myoglobin (∆oxy-Hb/Mb), deoxygenated hemoglobin/myoglobin (∆deoxy-Hb/Mb), and total hemoglobin concentration (∆total-Hb) were monitored continuously at the vastus lateralis muscle by near-infrared spatial resolved spectroscopy. At given absolute workloads, SmO2 and ∆oxy-Hb/Mb were significantly lower in elderly than the other groups, while ∆deoxy-Hb/Mb, ∆total-Hb, and pulmonary O2 uptake (VO2) were similar among the three groups. In contrast, there were no significant differences in muscle O2 dynamics during submaximal exercise between middle-aged and young subjects. Muscle O2 dynamics may be relatively preserved in early stages of aging, although muscle deoxygenation is enhanced in late stages of aging, probably due to reduced convective O2 supply. Moreover, change in SmO2 was significantly positively correlated with peak VO2 in the elderly, while a significant negative relationship was observed in middle-aged and young subjects. In late stages of aging, diminished peak VO2 may be caused by attenuated convective O2 transport, while reduced peak VO2 can be explained by lowered muscle O2 extraction in early stages of aging.

Imaging O2 dynamics and microenvironments in the seagrass leaf phyllosphere with magnetic optical sensor nanoparticles.

Eutrophication leads to epiphyte blooms on seagrass leaves that strongly affect plant health, yet the actual mechanisms of such epiphyte-induced plant stress remain poorly understood. We used magnetic optical sensor nanoparticles in combination with luminescence lifetime imaging to map the O2 concentration and dynamics in the heterogeneous seagrass phyllosphere under changing light conditions. By incorporating magnetite into the sensor nanoparticles, it was possible to image the spatial O2 distribution under flow over seagrass leaf segments in the presence of a strong magnetic field. Local microniches with low leaf surface O2 concentrations were found under thick epiphytic biofilms, often leading to anoxic microhabitats in darkness. High irradiance led to O2 supersaturation across most of the seagrass phyllosphere, whereas leaf microenvironments with reduced O2 conditions were found under epiphytic biofilms at low irradiance, probably driven by self-shading. Horizontal micro-profiles extracted from the O2 images revealed pronounced heterogeneities in local O2 concentration over the base of the epiphytic biofilm, with up to 52% reduction in O2 concentrations in areas with relatively thick (>2mm), compared with thin (≤1mm), epiphyte layers in darkness. We also present evidence of enhanced relative internal O2 transport within leaves with epiphyte overgrowth, compared with bare seagrass leaves, in light as a result of limited mass transfer across thick outward diffusion pathways. The local availability of O2 was still markedly reduced in the epiphyte-covered leaves, however. The leaf phyllosphere is thus characterized by a complex microlandscape of O2 availability that strongly affects microbial processes occurring within the epiphytic biofilm, which may have implications for seagrass health, as anoxic microhabitats have been shown to promote the microbiological production of reduced toxic compounds, such as nitric oxide.

Determination of absolute O(3P) and O2(a1 Δ g) densities and kinetics in fully modulated O2 dc glow discharges from the O2(X3 Σ g −) afterglow recovery dynamics

A method is presented for the determination of the absolute densities of O(3P) atoms and O2(a1Δg) molecules in an O2 electrical discharge, which does not depend on any calibration procedure or knowledge of optical transition strengths. It is based on observing the recovery dynamics of the O2(X3Σg −) density in the afterglow of a fully-modulated discharge, and is demonstrated in a dc glow discharge in pure О2 at pressures of 0.2–4 Torr. The time-resolved O2(X3Σg −) density was measured by VUV absorption spectroscopy using the monochromator branch of the VUV DESIRS beamline at Synchrotron SOLEIL, but this methodology could be used with another density measurement technique. During the active discharge, the O2(X3Σg −) density is depleted by a combination of О2 dissociation, excitation into metastable states (principally O2(a1Δg)) and gas heating/dilation. After discharge extinction, the O2(X3Σg −) density progressively recovers to its initial (before discharge) value, with three distinct time-constants due to: (i) gas cooling (fast), (ii) O(3P) atom recombination (intermediate), and (iii) O2(a1Δg) quenching (slow). The O(3P) and O2(a1Δg) dynamics can be separated easily, allowing the O(3P) and O2(a1Δg) afterglow loss kinetics to be determined, as well as their mole fractions in the steady-state discharge. Both the O(3P) and O2(a1Δg) mole-fractions increase with current (up to the highest current studied, 40 mA) and pass through maxima with pressure at 1 Torr, reaching 16.5% and 8%, respectively. O(3P) atoms are principally lost by recombination at the borosilicate tube surface, with a loss probability in the afterglow of ∼8 × 10−4, nearly independent of gas pressure and discharge current (in contrast to previous observations in the active discharge []). The O2(a1Δg) dynamics were also measured by IR emission spectroscopy. In the late afterglow, this agrees well with the O2(X3Σg −) recovery dynamics, corresponding to an O2(a1Δg) surface loss probability of ∼2.2 × 10−4. The initial O2(a1Δg) loss is faster than in the later afterglow, indicating that it is also quenched by O atoms.

Relationship between oxygen consumption and neuronal activity in a defined neural circuit

BackgroundNeuronal computations related to sensory and motor activity along with the maintenance of spike discharge, synaptic transmission, and associated housekeeping are energetically demanding. The most efficient metabolic process to provide large amounts of energy equivalents is oxidative phosphorylation and thus dependent on O2 consumption. Therefore, O2 levels in the brain are a critical parameter that influences neuronal function. Measurements of O2 consumption have been used to estimate the cost of neuronal activity; however, exploring these metabolic relationships in vivo and under defined experimental conditions has been limited by technical challenges.ResultsWe used isolated preparations of Xenopus laevis tadpoles to perform a quantitative analysis of O2 levels in the brain under in vivo-like conditions. We measured O2 concentrations in the hindbrain in relation to the spike discharge of the superior oblique eye muscle-innervating trochlear nerve as proxy for central nervous activity. In air-saturated bath Ringer solution, O2 levels in the fourth ventricle and adjacent, functionally intact hindbrain were close to zero. Inhibition of mitochondrial activity with potassium cyanide or fixation of the tissue with ethanol raised the ventricular O2 concentration to bath levels, indicating that the brain tissue consumed the available O2. Gradually increasing oxygenation of the Ringer solution caused a concurrent increase of ventricular O2 concentrations. Blocking spike discharge with the local anesthetics tricaine methanesulfonate diminished the O2 consumption by ~ 50%, illustrating the substantial O2 amount related to neuronal activity. In contrast, episodes of spontaneous trochlear nerve spike bursts were accompanied by transient increases of the O2 consumption with parameters that correlated with burst magnitude and duration.ConclusionsControlled experimental manipulations of both the O2 level as well as the neuronal activity under in vivo-like conditions allowed to quantitatively relate spike discharge magnitudes in a particular neuronal circuitry with the O2 consumption in this area. Moreover, the possibility to distinctly manipulate various functional parameters will yield more insight in the coupling between metabolic and neuronal activity. Thus, apart from providing quantitative empiric evidence for the link between physiologically relevant spontaneous spike discharge in the brain and O2-dependent metabolism, isolated amphibian preparations are promising model systems to further dissociate the O2 dynamics in relation to neuronal computations.

A Highly Selective and Sensitive Chemiluminescent Probe for Real-Time Monitoring of Hydrogen Peroxide in Cells and Animals.

Selective and sensitive molecular probes for hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 ), which plays diverse roles in oxidative stress and redox signaling, are urgently needed to investigate the physiological and pathological effects of H2 O2 . A lack of reliable tools for in vivo imaging has hampered the development of H2 O2 mediated therapeutics. By combining a specific tandem Payne/Dakin reaction with a chemiluminescent scaffold, H2 O2 -CL-510 was developed as a highly selective and sensitive probe for detection of H2 O2 both in vitro and in vivo. A rapid 430-fold enhancement of chemiluminescence was triggered directly by H2 O2 without any laser excitation. Arsenic trioxide induced oxidative damage in leukemia was successfully detected. In particular, cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury-induced H2 O2 fluxes were visualized in rat brains using H2 O2 -CL-510, providing a new chemical tool for real-time monitoring of H2 O2 dynamics in living animals.

Dynamics of radial oxygen loss in mangroves subjected to waterlogging.

Tidal flooding can directly result in oxygen (O2) shortage, however the functions of root aeration in flooding tolerance and O2 dynamics within mangroves are still poorly understood. Thus, in this study, the correlations among waterlogging tolerance, root porosity and O2 movement within the plants were investigated using two mangrove species (Aegiceras corniculatum and Bruguiera gymnorrhiza) and a semi-mangrove Heritiera littoralis. Based on the present data, the species A. corniculatum and B. gymnorrhiza, which possessed higher root porosity, exhibited higher waterlogging tolerance, while H. littoralis is intolerant. Increased root porosity, leaf stoma, and total ROL were observed in the roots of A. corniculatum and B. gymnorrhiza growing in stagnant solution when compared to respective aerated controls. As for ROL spatial pattern along roots, external anaerobic condition could promote ROL from apical root regions but reduce ROL from basal roots, leading to a 'tighter barrier'. In summary, the present study indicated that the plants (e.g., A. corniculatum and B. gymnorrhiza) prioritized to ensure O2 diffusion towards root tips under waterlogging by increasing aerenchyma formation and reducing O2 leakage at basal root regions.