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The Role of Plasmodesmata in the Electrotonic Transmission of Action Potentials

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Plant Electrophysiology

Abstract

The mounting evidence for the transmission of action potentials from cell to cell in a range of plants has exposed our lack of knowledge concerning the mechanism of transmission. While variation potentials (also known as slow wave potentials) involve chemicals released from damaged tissues and/or associated hydrodynamic changes, there is little or no evidence for the involvement of chemicals in the intercellular transmission of action potentials in plants. Plasmodesmata provide electrical connections between plant cells, as demonstrated by experiments in which current injected into one cell can produce a change in potential in a neighboring cell (electrical coupling). The evidence available to date supports a mechanism for electrotonic coupling of cells in transmission of action potentials rather than a direct transmission of excitation along the plasma membranes in the plasmodesmatal pores.

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  1. Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, 316 Riley-Robb Hall, Ithaca, NY, 14853-5701, USA

    Roger M. Spanswick

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  1. Roger M. Spanswick
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Correspondence to Roger M. Spanswick .

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  1. , Department of Chemistry, Oakwood University, Adventist Blvd. 7000, Huntsville, 35896, Alabama, USA

    Alexander G. Volkov

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Spanswick, R.M. (2012). The Role of Plasmodesmata in the Electrotonic Transmission of Action Potentials. In: Volkov, A. (eds) Plant Electrophysiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29110-4_9

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