We present the first in vivo ³¹P NMR study describing the effect of the anesthetic dibucaine on the levels of phosphorus-containing metabolites (G-6-P, P_i, NTP, NADP, and UDPG) in maize root tissue which was maintained in an aerobic state through modern perfusion techniques. The effects of dibucaine are demonstrated as a function of Ca²⁺ concentration at several pH values. Our results indicate that dibucaine alters the ³¹P spectra and the membrane-lipid composition of the roots upon introduction into the perfusate medium. Ca²⁺ inhibits the effects of the dibucaine as monitored by suppression of the ³¹P spectral changes induced by the anesthetic alone. Desaturase enzymatic inhibition has also been shown to occur in the presence of the anesthetic (in the absence of Ca²⁺), resulting in increased relative saturation of the fatty acids comprising the root tissue, with a marked decrease in linoleate (18:2) balanced by proportional increases in the more saturated fatty acid species. These compositional changes have been evaluated with respect to the real-time metabolic results as observed throughout the ³¹P NMR spectral studies.

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