Seasonal changed in total nitrogen, protein, amino acid, ammonia, nitrate and nitrite concentrations, and nitrate reductase and γ-glutamyltransferase activities in the needles, buds and shoots of young Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) were studied. A relationship between the variation in the nitrogen metabolism and both winter dormancy and its breaking was proposed. Pine tissues stored soluble nitrogen over the winter largely in the form of arginine which, in addition to a high nitrogen content, can neutralize acidic cytoplasmic constituents such as nitrates and nitrites. Specific nitrate reductase and γ-glutamyltransferase activities were highest in late summer or autumn, and is apparently connected to the mobilization of nitrogen reserves for the winter.
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The activation of CO2 exchange was monitored in two Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) seedlings transferred from the field to the laboratory in December. Gas exchange was monitored by an URAS I infrared gas analyser in a so-called open IRGA-system with trap type chambers. Transpiration was also measured at the same time by weighing the potted seedlings twice a day. The measuring period lasted eleven days. During the period, the level of both transpiration and net photosynthesis increased about ten times. Furthermore, it was found that the level of photosynthesis at high temperatures was relatively lower at the beginning than at the end of the measuring period.
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