Comparative nuclear magnetic resonance studies of diffusional water permeability of red blood cells from different species .9. Australian feral chicken and domestic chicken (Gallus domesticus)

The diffusional water permeability (P-d) of Australian feral chicken and Australian and European domestic chicken red blood cells (RBCs) was measured by a doping nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique. The values of P-d were around 1.7 x 10(-3) cm/s at 15 degrees C, 2.0 x 10(-3) cm/s at 20 degrees C, 2.5 x 10(-3) cm/s at 25 degrees C, 3.7 x 10(-3) cm/s at 30 degrees C, 4.3 x 10(-3) cm/s at 37 degrees C, and 6.1 x 10(-3) cm/s at 42 degrees C, with no significant differences between the three strains of chicken. There was no effect of p-chloromercuribenzene sulphonate on water diffusion. The activation energy of water diffusion was around 37 kJ/mol for all strains of chicken. These results suggest that no changes in the RBC water permeability are correlated with marked alterations in the habitat of chicken introduced to Australia (and that membrane proteins play little role in the diffusion of water across chicken RBC membrane).