Specimen altitude

The plant material was collected from two different localities in northern Anatolia, firstly from the vicinity of Oymalitepe village, Yomra town, Trabzon at 600 m altitude (coded as LC-T) and secondly from Bagirankaya plataeu, Ikizdere town, Rize at 2,000 m altitude (coded as LC-R) in 2001. The identification of the plant samples was carried out by Dr. Salih Terzioglu from the Department of Forest Botany, Faculty of Forestry, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey. The voucher specimen (GUE 2216) has been deposited at the Herbarium of the Faculty of Pharmacy of Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey. 

Gyrometrin toxin is produced by the false morel (Gyromitra esculenta), a short-stalked mushroom with a brain-like cap of dark brown color. Fruiting bodies of this mushroom appear mostly in spring and are valued as edible, even as delicacies. While many people consume the mushroom without any troubles, others become ill, some of them severely. It has been shown that the toxin content may vary with growth conditions, such as altitude and temperature. More probably, however, the variation is caused by differences in handling or cooking as the toxic components are volatile. The toxin has been detected in cooked, frozen, and dried specimens. 

Once a plant part(s) is collected, at least three herbarium samples should be prepared, and each organism concerned should be identified or authenticated by a taxonomist. One of these samples should be deposited m a local national herbarium, and the others should be deposited m a specialist museum or herbarium. All voucher specimens should be kept in an appropriate protected place for future reference A card with details of the place, altitude, environment, and characteristics of each collection should be attached to the herbarium sample, which is of vital importance in case a recollection of the plant matenal is necessary (see Note... 

The situation is still unclear, however, because the caudatum variety in northern South America accumulates ptaquiloside in inverse proportion to the elevation. Caudatum plants collected in grassland on mountain slopes along a 1000 m altitudinal gradient and similar nutrients content and water regime contained from 0.3 mg/g in the lower tier down to 5.36 -3.88 x 10"2 mg/g in specimens near the upper altitudinal limit of this variety, with good concentration/altitude linear correlations [14]. Mean temperatures were 23.3 °C in the lower terrain and 15.6 °C in the upper confines of the transect. However, when the same plants were re-tested after re-growth following wildfires in the area in 1998, values went up to 3.5 mg/g and the altitudinal correlation was diffuse. Therefore, the production and accumulation of ptaquiloside in bracken is still unclear... 

As stated above, on the specimen and the mica substrate, there is normally a thin film of water (a few nanometers or less) at moderate RH. As the tip, biased at a certain voltage, is brought into contact with the fihn containing a sufficient concentration of ions, a measurable current occurs. When the constant-current mode is used, the feedback mechanism will allow the tip to move up and down to maintain contact in the thin electrolyte layer. The altitude of the tip provides some information about the surface topology of the specimen as shown in the following examples. 

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