Nepenthes pitcher pH

From: Richard Jobson (r.jobson@botany.uq.edu.au)
Date: Wed Feb 09 2000 - 21:15:19 PST

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Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2000 16:15:19 +1100
From: "Richard Jobson" <r.jobson@botany.uq.edu.au>
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg402$foo@default>
Subject: Nepenthes pitcher pH

Hey Joe,
Just grabbed hold of Juniper's book, Chapter 9, and the question of
pitcher fluid pH is not so straight forward. It varies between species
quite a bit but the most salient feature is the reduction of pH after
the trap opens. So for instance N. maxima has the biggest change
from 7.0 before opening to 2.5 after opening. Other species go from
5.5 to 3.3. Therefore the pH of opened pitchers is fairly acidic. The
mechanism for the change has something to do with extrusion of
chlorine ions which affects potassium and hydrogen ions. When an
animal falls into the fluid its proteins causes changes due to
enzymes.
Best,
Richard.

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