Intra-trophic isotopic discrimination of ¹⁵N/¹⁴N for amino acids in autotrophs: Implications for nitrogen dynamics in ecological studies.

ABSTRACT: The differential discrimination of nitrogen isotopes (¹⁵N/¹⁴N) within amino acids in consumers and their diets has been routinely used to estimate organismal tropic position (TP). Analogous isotopic discrimination can occur within plants, particularly in organs lacking chloroplasts. Such discrimination likely arises from the catabolic deamination of amino acids, resulting in a numerical elevation of estimated TP, within newly synthesized biomass. To investigate this phenomenon, we examined the ¹⁵N/¹⁴N of amino acids (δ¹⁵ N_AA) in spring leaves and flowers from eight deciduous and two annual plants. These plants were classified on the basis of their time of bloom, plants that bloomed when their leaves were absent (Type I) vers

SUBMITTER: Takizawa Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5415530 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature