Volume 8, Number 3, p.p. 79–83
Supercooled water in the roots of annual plants
Sh. Gogichaishvili, V. Sokhadze, E. Kiziria and N. Bakradze
E. Andronikashvili Institute of Physics, 6 Tamarashvili St, 0177 Tbilisi, Georgia
Results concerning water crystallization and ice melting processes in the roots of annual plants under equilibrium and nonequilibrium conditions are presented. The samples are considered as a model system with the aim of determining the mechanisms of water crystallization processes in complex biological systems (including bacterial suspensions). Using a new calorimeter constructed in our laboratory, we have determined water concentration dependencies of water supercooling and ice melting temperatures in the samples. We have also attempted to estimate the probability of formation of a stable ice nucleus under isothermal conditions. It is postulated that there are three distinct groups of cells with significantly supercooled intracellular water, differing in the probability of formation of a stable ice nucleus.
Keywords:
differential scanning calorimetry, plant roots, water supercooling