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Direct Determination Of The Kinetics Of Oxygen Diffusion To The Photocytes Of A Bioluminescent Elaterid Larva, Measurement Of Gas- And Aqueous-Phase Diffusional Barriers And Modelling Of Oxygen Supply, G. S. Timmins, E. J. Bechara, H. M. Swartz
Direct Determination Of The Kinetics Of Oxygen Diffusion To The Photocytes Of A Bioluminescent Elaterid Larva, Measurement Of Gas- And Aqueous-Phase Diffusional Barriers And Modelling Of Oxygen Supply, G. S. Timmins, E. J. Bechara, H. M. Swartz
Dartmouth Scholarship
We describe the development and use of a direct kinetic technique to determine the time taken for oxygen to diffuse from the external environment into the light-producing cells (photocytes) in the prothorax of bioluminescent larvae of Pyrearinus termitilluminans. This was achieved by measuring the time course of the pseudoflash induced through sequential anoxia followed by normoxia. We have also determined the separate times taken for this oxygen diffusion in gaseous and tissue (predominantly aqueous) phases by using helium and nitrogen as the carrier gas. Of the total time taken for diffusion, that in the gas phase required 613+/-136 ms (mean …