Phytochrome control of electrical potentials and intercellular coupling in oat-coleoptile tissue
✍ Scribed by Richard H. Racusen
- Publisher
- Springer-Verlag
- Year
- 1976
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 510 KB
- Volume
- 132
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0032-0935
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✦ Synopsis
Microelectrodes were used to demonstrate two electrical responses which occur in oat (Arena sativa L.) coleoptile parenchyma-cells during exposure to red light. The membrane potential of these cells depolarized 5-10 mV in several seconds in red light and repolarized more slowly in far-red light. By pulsing current through the cells, it was found that cellular coupling along the longitudinal axis of the coleoptile increased about 2-fold in red light, but that coupling along the lateral axis was not affected. The rapid changes in membrane potential are consistent with the idea of a membrane locale for early phytochrome action. The coupling experiments suggest that phytochrome may also affect plasmodesmata in this system.