Proton Exchange in Water/Mycelium System: Transdisciplinary Out-of-Equilibrium Thermodynamic Approach Using Potentiometric Titration

Vicente R. de Almeida, Bruno Szpoganicz

Equlibrium Laboratory, Chemistry Department, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil.

DOI: 10.4236/ojpc.2013.34023                

Abstract

In this study, we used potentiometric titration to investigate the interaction of the saprophytic fungus Trametes villosa in an aqueous environment. The study of this biological complex system allowed us to observe the evolution of out-ofequilibrium hydrogen ion potential states after systematic perturbations. The responses of the complex system to perturbations were interpreted from relations that provided qualitative response patterns for mycelium in agreement with their basic structural and organizational characteristics. We consider this to be a transdisciplinary example of the behavior of general systems with thermodynamic properties of great ecological relevance, being specifically related to the negentropic properties of heterogeneous systems.

Keywords

Transdisciplinarity; Fungi; Proton Exchange; Out-of-Equilibrium Thermodynamics; pH; Ecological Relations

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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