Regensburg 2007 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 16: Poster Session I

BP 16.2: Poster

Tuesday, March 27, 2007, 17:00–19:30, Poster D

Biological surfaces and their response to environmental stress — •Agnieszka Krol-Otwinowska, Karl Hieble, and Margret Giesen — Institute of Bio- and Nanosystems IBN-4, Research Centre Jülich GmbH, Germany

Biological surfaces form the interface between a living organism and the atmosphere. In addition, they mediate the response of a living organism to environmental stress by means of structural changes and chemical reactions. On the molecular scale, structural changes and chemical reactions generally involve changes in the local polarization of the electron charge density in the biological surfaces, which opens a pathway to study the response of biological surfaces to environmental stress from a surface scientist's perspective: Change in the local polarization of the electron charge density is the origin of the mechanical surface stress which is defined as the total work to enlarge the area of a solid surface by a certain amount. For the first time, we introduce measurements of the surface stress of biological surfaces under natural conditions and demonstrate that changes in the surface stress are sensitive indicators for the interaction of biological surfaces with their environment. As an example we present measurements of the surface stress of plant leaf wax layers and its dependence on climatic relevant parameters (gases, air humidity, UV-light).