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Initial events in the tip-swelling response of the filamentous gametophyte of Onoclea sensibilis L. to blue light

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Abstract

Several inhibitors were applied to filamentous gametophytes of the fern Onoclea sensibilis in the attempt to characterize how electrical phenomena might be involved in the tip-swelling response to blue light (BL). The membrane potential of the apical cell in the typical fern filament rests near-120 mV in darkness, but irradiation with blue light causes the membrane to hyperpolarize at a steady rate of 2.6 mV min-1 until it reaches a new stable value between-130 and-135 mV. In darkness, 10-4M salicylhydroxamic acid (SHAM), an inhibitor of BL-mediated absorbance changes in putative plasma-membrane fractions from maize coleoptiles, has no observable effects on the membrane potential or on filamentous growth. A SHAM pretreatment before BL irradiation causes approx. 70% inhibition of the membrane hyperpolarization as well as a comparable reduction in the growth response; however, SHAM has no effect in experiments where its application follows the onset of the electrical response. Exposing the filaments to 10-5M Na3VO4, an inhibitor of the plasma-membrane ATPase, depresses the membrane potential in darkness. Depending on the timing of application, Na3VO4 prevents the initiation of or blocks further increases in the BL-mediated hyperpolarization. Application of Na3VO4 causes an immediate cessation of growth in both darkness and BL. These findings implicate the involvement of a plasmalemma-bound flavin-cytochrome complex and ATP-driven proton pump in the initial events of this growth response to blue light.

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Abbreviations

BL:

blue light

SHAM:

salicylhydroxamic acid

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, University of Maryland, 20742, College Park, MD, USA

    Todd J. Cooke & Richard H. Racusen

  2. Department of Plant Biology, Carnegie Institute of Washington, 94305, Stanford, CA, USA

    Winslow R. Briggs

Authors
  1. Todd J. Cooke
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  2. Richard H. Racusen
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  3. Winslow R. Briggs
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Carnegie Institute of Washington-Department of Plant Biology Publication No. 801

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Cooke, T.J., Racusen, R.H. & Briggs, W.R. Initial events in the tip-swelling response of the filamentous gametophyte of Onoclea sensibilis L. to blue light. Planta 159, 300–307 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00393167

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00393167

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