@phdthesis{Gupta2007,
  author    = {Gupta, Kapuganti Jagadis},
  title     = {Nitric oxide in plants: Investigation of synthesispathways and role in defense against avirulent Pseudomonas},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-25545},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2007},
  abstract  = {Die Zahl der physiologischen Prozesse in Pflanzen, die scheinbar durch NO reguliert werden, hat in den letzten Jahren stark zugenommen. NO {\"u}bernimmt wichtige Rollen f{\"u}r die Steuerung von Wachstum und Entwicklung, f{\"u}r die Pathogenresistenz und bei abiotischem Stress, sowohl in unterirdischen als auch in oberirdischen Organen. In Pflanzen wurden bisher eine Reihe verschiedener enzymatischer und einige wenige nichtenzymatische Synthesewege f{\"u}r NO vorgeschlagen. Das Hauptziel dieser Arbeit bestand nun darin, die NO Produktion von Pflanzen und speziell von Wurzeln m{\"o}glichst quantitativ zu erfassen und die beteiligten Enzyme zu identifizieren. Dieses Ziel sollte vor allem durch Chemilumineszenz-Messung von NO in der Gasphase (= direkte Chemilumineszenz) erreicht werden, aber auch durch die indirekte Chemilumineszenz, bei welcher Spuren von NO-Oxidationsprodukten wie Nitrat und Nitrit erfasst werden. Als Versuchspflanzen wurden verwendet: Wildtypen von Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi oder cv. Gatersleben; Nitratreduktase-freie, auf Ammonium-N angezogene Mutanten, die keine Nitratreduktase (NR) induzieren; WT Pflanzen, die auf Wolframat angezogen wurden um die Synthese funktionaler MoCo-Enzyme zu unterbinden; eine NO-{\"u}berproduzierende, Nitritreduktase (NiR)-freie Transformante, sowie gelegentlich Gerste, Reis und Erbsen. Eine hypersensitive Reaktion (HR) von Tabak wurde erzeugt durch Druckinfiltration von avirulenten Bakterien des Stammes Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola. Bei Sauerstoffkonzentrationen \&\#8804;1\% wurde exogenes Nitrit auch von v{\"o}llig NR-freien Wurzeln zu NO reduziert. Folglich war NR nicht die einzige NO-Quelle von Wurzeln. Im Gegensatz dazu waren NR-freie Blattstreifen nicht in der Lage, Nitrit zu NO umzusetzen. Die NO-Bildung von Wurzeln wurde außerdem durch Hemmstoffe des mitochondrialen Elektronentransportes, Myxothiazol und Salicylhydroxams{\"a}ure (SHAM) gehemmt, w{\"a}hrend die NO-Produktion von NR-exprimierenden Blattstreifen gegen diese Inhibitoren unempfindlich war. Damit stimmte auch {\"u}berein, dass gereinigte Mitochondrien aus Wurzeln, aber nicht die aus Bl{\"a}ttern Nitrit mit Hilfe von NADH zu NO reduzieren konnten. Die Inhibitor-Wirkung l{\"a}sst darauf schließen, dass in Wurzelmitochondrien beide terminalen Oxidasen and der NO-Bildung beteiligt sind, und dass selbst in NR-haltigen Wurzeln ein großer Teil der Reduktion von Nitrit zu NO durch die Mitochondrien bewerkstelligt wird, und weniger durch NR selbst. Die Unterschiedliche F{\"a}higkeit von Blatt-und Wurzelmitochondrien zur anaeroben Nitrit:NO-Reduktion wurde nicht nur bei Tabak, sondern auch bei Arabidopsis, Gerste und Erbse gefunden. Sie scheint also eine generelle Eigenschaft h{\"o}herer Pflanzen zu sein. Die Nitrit:NO Reduktion wurden auch direkt als Nitrit- bzw. NADH-Verbrauch gemessen. Die Reaktion war außerdem exklusiv mit der Membranfraktion der Mitochondrien assoziert, ohne jede Beteiligung von Matrixkomponenten. Es wurde auch gepr{\"u}ft, ob Wurzelmitochondrien und- gereinigte Membranen NO ausschließlich aus Nitrit produzierten, oder eventuell auch {\"u}ber eine NO-Synthase (NOS). Außerdem wurde untersucht, ob und in welchem Umfang die NO-Messungen durch eine NO-Oxidation verf{\"a}lscht werden konnten. Zus{\"a}tzlich zur Chemilumineszenz wurden Fluoreszenzmessungen mit Diaminofluoreszeinen (DAF) zum Vergleich herangezogen. In Luft produzierten Mitochondrien ja kein Nitrit-abh{\"a}ngiges NO, und eine NOS-Aktivit{\"a}t konnte weder durch direkte noch durch indirekte Chemilumineszenz nachgewiesen werden. Mit DAF-2 oder DAR-4M wurde jedoch eine L-Arginin-abh{\"a}ngige Fluoreszenzerh{\"o}hung beobachtet. Diese scheinbare NOS-Aktivit{\"a}t wurde mit kommerzieller iNOS verglichen und zeigte dabei sehr untypische Antworten auf NOS-Inhibitoren, Substrate und Kofaktoren. Sie wird deshalb als Artefakt beurteilt. Bei Verwendung von iNOS wurden ca. 2/3 des insgesamt produzierten NO zu (Nitrit+Nitrat) oxidiert. Mitochondrien scheinen NO zu verbrauchen, ohne jedoch die Oxidation von NO zu (Nitrit+Nitrat) zu erh{\"o}hen. Vermutlich wird dabei ein fl{\"u}chtiges Intermediat gebildet (eventuell N2O3). In unserer Gruppe wurde k{\"u}rzlich gezeigt, dass der pilzliche Elicitor Cryptogein eine hypersensitive Reaktion (HR) bei Tabak hervorrief, die v{\"o}llig unabh{\"a}ngig von der Gegenwart oder Abwesenheit von NR war. Eine Schlussfolgerung daraus war, dass die NR-abh{\"a}ngige NO-Bildung f{\"u}r die HR keine Rolle spielte. Hier pr{\"a}sentieren wir Hinweise darauf, dass dieses Szenario Cryptogein-spezifisch sein k{\"o}nnte. Pseudomonas syringae pv phaseolicola wurde in Tabakbl{\"a}tter des Wildtyps und derNiR-defizienten, NO-{\"u}berproduzierenden Mutante (clone 271) infiltriert, die entweder auf Ammonium oder auf Nitrat angezogen waren. Es wurde die Entwicklung der L{\"a}sionen, das Bakterienwachstum und die Zuckerkonzentrationen in den Bl{\"a}ttern und im Blattapoplasten verfolgt. Die L{\"a}sionen-Entwicklung war positiv, und das Bakterienwachstum negativ korreliert mit der Nitrat-Ern{\"a}hrung und einer eventuellen NO-Produktion. Das Bakterienwachstum war positiv korreliert mit einer Ammonium-Ern{\"a}hrung und mit apoplastischen Zuckerkonzentrationen. Der Gesamtgehalt an freier + konjugierter Salicyls{\"a}ure (SA) war durch bakterielle Infektion immer drastisch gesteigert, aber ohne klare Korrelation mit einer NO-Produktion. In Gegenwart von Cryptogein war das Wachstum von Pseudomonas fast v{\"o}llig gehemmt. Diese Beobachtungen deuten darauf hin, dass die vermutete gegenseitige Abh{\"a}ngigkeit von Bakterienwachstum, NO-Produktion und der HR sehr komplex ist und nicht auf einfache unifaktorielle Beziehungen reduziert werden kann.},
  subject      = {Pflanzen},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Kuhlmann2009,
  author    = {Kuhlmann, Franziska},
  title     = {The influence of ultraviolet radiation on plant-insect interactions},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-39608},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2009},
  abstract  = {Plants must respond to multiple stimuli in a natural environment. Therefore they need the ability to rapidly reorganise and specifically build up appropriate metabolites to adapt to their environment. Abiotic cues, such as ambient solar radiation, influence the next trophic level directly, but also an altered plant composition triggered by these environmental cues can have an effect on the behaviour of herbivores. The aim of this study was to test effects of the important ultraviolet (UV) radiation on plants and on plant-insect interactions using multi-level investigations. The focus was on the conduction of controlled experiments with broccoli plants in highly engineered greenhouses covered with innovative materials, which only differed in their UV-B transmission. For the first time in this controlled environment the plant-mediated UV-B effects on phloem-feeding aphids were studied. Broccoli plants (Brassica oleracea L. convar. botrytis, Brassicaceae) were under filter tents either exposed to (inclusion, +UV) or not exposed to (exclusion, -UV) UV-A / UV-B radiation. In greenhouses covered with new, innovative materials transmitting high (80\%), medium (23\%) or low (4\%) levels of ambient solar UV-B radiation, in particular the influence of UV-B radiation on broccoli was examined. Plants respond highly specific to environmental stimuli such as UV-B radiation and herbivory. UV-B radiation has a strong impact on the plants' architecture and flavonoid contents, which can in turn influence plant-insect interactions. Phloem-feeding aphids can be negatively affected by UV-B mediated plant changes. However, a direct effect of UV radiation on the behaviour of herbivores is also evident. Mainly the number, composition and quality of herbivorous species as well as an exceeding of a certain infestation threshold determine the mode of plant changes. In conclusion, UV-B radiation has the potential to harden plants against herbivores and simultaneously increases the concentrations of valuable secondary metabolites for human nutrition in important crop species such as broccoli.},
  subject      = {ultraviolette Strahlung},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Li2023,
  author    = {Li, Kunkun},
  title     = {Dissecting the interconnection of Ca\(^{2+}\) and pH signaling in plants with a novel biosensor for dual imaging},
  doi       = {10.25972/OPUS-24973},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-249736},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2023},
  abstract  = {Calcium ion (Ca2+) and protons (H+) are both regarded as second messengers, participating in plant growth and stress mechanisms. However, H+ signals in plant physiology are less well investigated compared to Ca2+ signals. If interconnections between these two second messengers exist remains to be uncovered because appropriate imaging tools to monitor Ca2+ and H+ simultaneously in the same cell as well as accurate bioinformatics analysis remain to be developed. To overcome this problem and unravel the role and possible interconnection of Ca2+ and H+ in plants, a new biosensor named CapHensor was developed and optimized to visualize intracellular Ca2+ and H+ changes simultaneously and ratiometrically in the same cell. The CapHensor consisted of an optimized green fluorescent pH sensor (PRpHluorin) and an established red fluorescent Ca2+ sensor (R-GECO1) that were combined in one construct via a P2A sequence. A P2A self-cleavage site between the two sensors allowed to express equal amounts but spatially separated sensors, which enabled artifact-free and ratiometric imaging of cellular Ca2+ and pH side-by-side. The function of the CapHensor was verified in pollen tubes, since they possess standing Ca2+ and pH gradients. We found better imaging quality and the signal-to-noise ratio to be enhanced in live-cell imaging when two R-GECO1 proteins were fused in tandem within the CapHensor construct. To guarantee exclusive subcellular localization and avoid mixed signals from different compartments, Nuclear Export Sequence (NES) and Nuclear Localization Sequence (NLS) were used to target PRpHluorin and R-GECO1 to distinct compartments. After optimization and verification its function, CapHensor was successfully expressed in different cell types to investigate the role of Ca2+ and H+ signals to control polar growth of pollen tube, stomatal movement or leaf defense signaling. Results obtained in the past indicated both Ca2+ gradients and pH gradients in pollen tubes play roles in polar growth. However, the role and temporal relationship between the growth process and changes in Ca2+ and pH have not been conclusively resolved. Using CapHensor, I found cytosolic acidification at the tip could promote and alkalization to suppress growth velocity in N. tabacum pollen tubes, indicating that cytosolic H+ concentrations ([H+]cyt) play an important role in regulation pollen tubes growth despite the accompanied changes in cytosolic Ca2+ concentrations ([Ca2+]cyt). Moreover, growth correlated much better with the tip [H+]cyt regime than with the course of the tip [Ca2+]cyt regime. However, surprisingly, tip-focused [Ca2+]cyt andII [H+]cyt oscillations both lagged behind growth oscillations approximately 33 s and 18 s, respectively, asking for a re-evaluation of the role that tip [Ca2+]cyt may play in pollen tube growth. Live-cell CapHensor imaging combined with electrophysiology uncovered that oscillatory membrane depolarization correlated better with tip [H+]cyt oscillations than with tip [Ca2+]cyt oscillations, indicative for a prominent role of [H+]cyt to also control electrogenic membrane transport. Using CapHensor, reading out cellular movement at the same time enabled to provide a precise temporal and spatial resolution of ion signaling events, pointing out a prominent role of [H+]cyt in pollen tube tip growth. For leaf cells, a special CapHensor construct design had to be developed, containing additional NES localization sequences to avoid overlapping of fluorescense signals from the nucleus and the cytosol. Once this was achieved, the role of Ca2+ and pH changes in guard cells, another typical single-cell system was investigated. Cytosolic pH changes have been described in stomatal movement, but the physiological role of pH and the interaction with changing Ca2+ signals were still unexplored. Combining CapHensor with the here developed technique to monitor stomatal movement in parallel, the role of Ca2+ and H+ in stomatal movement was studied in detail and novel aspects were identified. The phytohormone ABA and the bacterial elicitor flagellin (flg22) are typical abiotic and biotic stresses, respectively, to trigger stomatal closure. What kind of Ca2+ and H+ signals by ABA and flg22 are set-off in guard cells and what their temporal relationship and role for stomatal movement is were unknown. Similar [Ca2+]cyt increases were observed upon ABA and flg22 triggered stomatal closure, but [H+]cyt dynamics differed fundamentally. ABA triggered pronounced cytosolic alkalization preceded the [Ca2+]cyt responses significantly by 57 s while stomata started to close ca. 205 s after phytohormone application. With flg22, stomatal closure was accompanied only with a mild cytosolic alkalization but the [Ca2+]cyt response was much more pronounced compared to the ABA effects. Where the cytosolic alkalization originates from was unclear but the vacuole was speculated to contribute in the past. In this thesis, vacuolar pH changes were visualized by the dye BCECF over time, basically displaying exactly the opposite course of the concentration shift in the vacuole than observed in the cytosol. This is indicative for the vacuolar pH dynamics to be coupled strongly to the cytosolic pH changes. In stomatal closure signalling, reactive oxygen species (ROS) were proposed to play a major role, however, only very high concentration of H2O2 (> 200 µM), which resulted in the loss of membrane integrity, induced stomatal closure. Unexpectedly, physiological concentrations of ROS led to cytosolic acidificationIII which was associated with stomatal opening, but not stomatal closure. To study the role of [H+]cyt to steer stomatal movement in detail, extracellular and intracellular pH variations were evoked in N. tabacum guard cells and their behaviour was followed. The results demonstrated cytosolic acidification stimulated stomatal opening while cytosolic alkalization triggered stomatal closure accompanied by [Ca2+]cyt elevations. This demonstrated pH regulation to be an important aspect in stomatal movement and to feed-back on the Ca2+-dynamics. It was remarkable that cytosolic alkalization but not [Ca2+]cyt increase seemed to play a crucial role in stomatal closure, because more pronounced cytosolic alkalization, evoked stronger stomatal closure despite similar [Ca2+]cyt increases. Increases in [Ca2+]cyt, which are discussed as an early stomatal closure signal in the past, could not trigger stomatal closure alone in my experiments, even when extremely strong [Ca2+]cyt signals were triggered. Regarding the interaction between the two second messengers, [Ca2+]cyt and [H+]cyt were negatively correlated most of the times, which was different from pollen tubes showing positive correlation of [Ca2+]cyt and [H+]cyt regimes. [Ca2+]cyt elevations were always associated with a cytosolic alkalization and this relationship could be blocked by the presence of vanadate, a plasma membrane H+-pump blocker, indicating plasma membrane H+-ATPases to contribute to the negative correlation of [Ca2+]cyt and [H+]cyt. To compare with guard cells, cytosolic and nuclear versions of CapHensor were expressed in N. benthamiana mesophyll cells, a multicellular system I investigated. Mesophyll cell responses to the same stimuli as tested in guard cells demonstrated that ABA and H2O2 did not induce any [Ca2+]cyt and [H+]cyt changes while flg22 induced an increase in [Ca2+]cyt and [H+]cyt, which is different from the response in guard cells. I could thus unequivocally demonstrate that guard cells and mesophyll cells do respond differently with [Ca2+]cyt and [H+]cyt changes to the same stimuli, a concept that has been proposed before, but never demonstrated in such detail for plants. Spontaneous Ca2+ oscillations have been observed for a long time in guard cells, but the function or cause is still poorly understood. Two populations of oscillatory guard cells were identified according to their [Ca2+]cyt and [H+]cyt phase relationship in my study. In approximately half of the oscillatory cells, [H+]cyt oscillations preceded [Ca2+]cyt oscillations whereas [Ca2+]cyt was the leading signal in the other half of the guard cells population. Strikingly, natural [H+]cyt oscillations were dampened by ABA but not by flg22. This effect could be well explained by dampening of vacuolar H+ oscillations in the presence of ABA, but not through flg22. Vacuolar pH contributes to spontaneous [H+]cyt oscillations and ABA but not flg22 can block the interdependence of naturalIV [Ca2+]cyt and [H+]cyt signals. To study the role of [Ca2+]cyt oscillations in stomatal movement, solutions containing high and low KCl concentrations were applied aiming to trigger [Ca2+]cyt oscillations. The triggering of [Ca2+]cyt oscillations by this method was established two decades ago leading to the dogma that [Ca2+]cyt increases are the crucial signal for stomatal closure. However, I found stomatal movement by this method was mainly due to osmotic effects rather than [Ca2+]cyt increases. Fortunately, through this methodology, I found a strong correlation between cytosolic pH and the transport of potassium across the plasma membrane and vacuole existed. The plasma membrane H+-ATPases and H+-coupled K+ transporters were identified as the cause of [H+]cyt changes, both very important aspects in stomata physiology that were not visualized experimentally before. Na+ transport is also important for stomatal regulation and leaves generally since salt can be transported from the root to the shoot. Unlike well-described Ca2+- dependent mechanisms in roots, how leaves process salt stress is not at all understood. I applied salt on protoplasts from leaves, mesophyll cells and guard cells and combined live-cell imaging with Vm recordings to understand the transport and signaling for leaf cells to cope with salt stress. In both, mesophyll and guard cells, NaCl did not trigger Ca2+-signals as described for roots but rather triggered Ca2+ peaks when washing salt out. However, membrane depolarization and pronounced alkalinization were very reliably triggered by NaCl, which could presumably act as a signal for detoxification of high salt concentrations. In line with this, I found the vacuolar cation/H+ antiporter NHX1 to play a role in sodium transport, [H+]cyt homeostasis and the control of membrane potential. Overexpression of AtNHX1 enabled to diminish [H+]cyt changes and resulted in a smaller depolarization responses druing NaCl stress. My results thus demonstrated in contrast to roots, leaf cells do not use Ca2+-dependent signalling cascades to deal with salt stress. I could show Na+ and K+ induced [H+]cyt and Vm responses and Cl- transport to only have a minor impact. Summing all my results up briefly, I uncovered pH signals to play important roles to control pollen tube growth, stomatal movement and leaf detoxification upon salt. My results strongly suggested pH changes might be a more important signal than previously thought to steer diverse processes in plants. Using CapHensor in combination with electrophysiology and bioinformatics tools, I discovered distinct interconnections between [Ca2+]cyt and [H+]cyt in different cell types and distinct [Ca2+]cyt and [H+]cyt signals are initiated through diverse stimuli and environmental cues. The CapHensor will be very useful in the future to further investigate the coordinated role of Ca2+ and pH changes in controlling plant physiology.},
  subject      = {Pflanzen},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Kunz2023,
  author    = {Kunz, Marcel},
  title     = {Diffusion kinetics of organic compounds and water in plant cuticular model wax under the influence of diffusing barrier-modifying adjuvants},
  doi       = {10.25972/OPUS-27487},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-274874},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2023},
  abstract  = {To reach their target site, systemic pesticides must enter the plant from a spray droplet applied in the field. The uptake of an active ingredient (AI) takes place via the barrier-forming cuticular membrane, which is the outermost layer of the plant, separating it from the surrounding environment. Formulations are usually used which, in addition to the AI, also contain stabilizers and adjuvants. Adjuvants can either have surface-active properties or they act directly as barrier-modifying agents. The latter are grouped in the class of accelerating adjuvants, whereby individual variants may also have surface-active properties. The uptake of a pesticide from a spray droplet depends essentially on its permeability through the cuticular barrier. Permeability defines a combined parameter, which is the product of AI mobility and AI solubility within the cuticle. In recent decades, several tools have been developed that allowed the determination of individual parameters of organic compound penetration across the cuticular membrane. Nevertheless, earlier studies showed that mainly cuticular waxes are the barrier-determining component of the cuticular membrane and additionally, it was shown that mainly the very-long-chain aliphatic compounds (VLCAs) are responsible for establishing an effective barrier. However, the barrier-determining role of the individual VLCAs, being classified according to their respective functional groups, is still unknown. Therefore, the following objectives were pursued and achieved in this work: (1) A new ATR-FTIR-based approach was developed to measure the temperature-dependent real-time diffusion kinetics of organic models for active ingredients (AIs) in paraffin wax, exclusively consisting of very-long chain alkanes. (2) The developed ATR-FTIR approach was applied to determine the diffusion kinetics of self-accelerating adjuvants in cuticular model waxes of different VLCA composition. At the same time, wax-specific changes were recorded in the respective IR spectra, which provided information about the respective wax modification. (3) The ATR-FTIR method was used to characterize the diffusion kinetics, as well as to determine the wax-specific sorption capacities for an AI-modeling organic compound and water in cuticular model waxes after adjuvant treatment. Regarding the individual chemical compositions and structures, conclusions were drawn about the adjuvant-specific modes of action (MoA). In the first chapter, the ATR-FTIR based approach to determine organic compound diffusion kinetics in paraffin wax was successfully established. The diffusion kinetics of the AI modelling organic compounds heptyl parabene (HPB) and 4-cyanophenol (CNP) were recorded, comprising different lipophilicities and molecular volumes typical for AIs used in pesticide formulations. Derived diffusion coefficients ranged within 10-15 m2 s-1, thus being thoroughly higher than those obtained from previous experiments using an approach solely investigating desorption kinetics in reconstituted cuticular waxes. An ln-linear dependence between the diffusion coefficients and the applied diffusion temperature was demonstrated for the first time in cuticular model wax, from which activation energies were derived. The determined activation energies were 66.2 ± 7.4 kJ mol-1 and 56.4 ± 9.8 kJ mol-1, being in the expected range of already well-founded activation energies required for organic compound diffusion across cuticular membranes, which again confirmed the significant contribution of waxes to the cuticular barrier. Deviations from the assumed Fickian diffusion were attributed to co-occurring water diffusion and apparatus-specific properties. In the second and third chapter, mainly the diffusion kinetics of accelerating adjuvants in the cuticular model waxes candelilla wax and carnauba wax were investigated, and simultaneously recorded changes in the wax-specific portion of the IR spectrum were interpreted as indications of plasticization. For this purpose, the oil derivative methyl oleate, as well as the organophosphate ester TEHP and three non-ionic monodisperse alcohol ethoxylates (AEs) C12E2, C12E4 and C12E6 were selected. Strong dependence of diffusion on the respective principal components of the mainly aliphatic waxes was demonstrated. The diffusion kinetics of the investigated adjuvants were faster in the n-alkane dominated candelilla wax than in the alkyl ester dominated carnauba wax. Furthermore, the equilibrium absorptions, indicating equilibrium concentrations, were also higher in candelilla wax than in carnauba wax. It was concluded that alkyl ester dominated waxes feature higher resistance to diffusion of accelerating adjuvants than alkane dominated waxes with shorter average chain lengths due to their structural integrity. This was also found either concerning candelilla/policosanol (n-alcohol) or candelilla/rice bran wax (alkyl-esters) blends: with increasing alcohol concentration, the barrier function was decreased, whereas it was increased with increasing alkyl ester concentration. However, due to the high variability of the individual diffusion curves, only a trend could be assumed here, but significant differences were not shown. The variability itself was described in terms of fluctuating crystalline arrangements and partial phase separation of the respective wax mixtures, which had inevitable effects on the adjuvant diffusion. However, diffusion kinetics also strongly depended on the studied adjuvants. Significantly slower methyl oleate diffusion accompanied by a less pronounced reduction in orthorhombic crystallinity was found in carnauba wax than in candelilla wax, whereas TEHP diffusion was significantly less dependent on the respective wax structure and therefore induced considerable plasticization in both waxes. Of particular interest was the AE diffusion into both waxes. Differences in diffusion kinetics were also found here between candelilla blends and carnauba wax. However, these depended equally on the degree of ethoxylation of the respective AEs. The lipophilic C12E2 showed approximately Fickian diffusion kinetics in both waxes, accompanied by a drastic reduction in orthorhombic crystallinity, especially in candelilla wax, whereas the more hydrophilic C12E6 showed significantly retarded diffusion kinetics associated with a smaller effect on orthorhombic crystallinity. The individual diffusion kinetics of the investigated adjuvants sometimes showed drastic deviations from the Fickian diffusion model, indicating a self-accelerating effect. Hence, adjuvant diffusion kinetics were accompanied by a distinct initial lag phase, indicating a critical concentration in the wax necessary for effective penetration, leading to sigmoidal rather than to exponential diffusion kinetics. The last chapter dealt with the adjuvant-affected diffusion of the AI modelling CNP in candelilla and carnauba wax. Using ATR-FTIR, diffusion kinetics were recorded after adjuvant treatment, all of which were fully explicable based on the Fickian model, with high diffusion coefficients ranging from 10-14 to 10-13 m2 s-1. It is obvious that the diffusion coefficients presented in this work consistently demonstrated plasticization induced accelerated CNP mobilities. Furthermore, CNP equilibrium concentrations were derived, from which partition- and permeability coefficients could be determined. Significant differences between diffusion coefficients (mobility) and partition coefficients (solubility) were found on the one hand depending on the respective waxes, and on the other hand depending on treatment with respective adjuvants. Mobility was higher in candelilla wax than in carnauba wax only after methyl oleate treatment. Treatment with TEHP and AEs resulted in higher CNP mobility in the more polar alkyl ester dominated carnauba wax. The partition coefficients, on the other hand, were significantly lower after methyl oleate treatment in both candelilla and carnauba wax as followed by TEHP or AE treatment. Models were designed for the CNP penetration mode considering the respective adjuvants in both investigated waxes. Co-penetrating water, which is the main ingredient of spray formulations applied in the field, was likely the reason for the drastic differences in adjuvant efficacy. Especially the investigated AEs favored an enormous water uptake in both waxes with increasing ethoxylation level. Surprisingly, this effect was also found for the lipophilic TEHP in both waxes. This led to the assumption that the AI permeability is not exclusively determined by adjuvant induced plasticization, but also depends on a "secondary plasticization", induced by adjuvant-attracted co-penetrating water, consequently leading to swelling and drastic destabilization of the crystalline wax structure. The successful establishment of the presented ATR-FTIR method represents a milestone for the study of adjuvant and AI diffusion kinetics in cuticular waxes. In particular, the simultaneously detectable wax modification and, moreover, the determinable water uptake form a perfect basis to establish the ATR-FTIR system as a universal screening tool for wax-adjuvants-AI-water interaction in crop protection science.},
  subject      = {Pflanzen},
  language  = {en}
}