Transport of Solutes Through the Plasmodesmata of Chara Nodes

Abstract

Casual observation of a charophyte makes it obvious that it is an organism that relies on the intercellular transport of solutes. The existence of a pathway for electric current between the cells of the node has been shown by a number of workers (Spanswick and Costerton, 1967; Skierczyńska, 1968; Bostrom and Walker, 1975), all of whom agree that the conducting element is the array of plasmodesmata in the intercellular wall. There have been qualitative studies (Little-field and Forsberg, 1965; Evrard and Chappell, 1967) that showed the movement of radioactive solutes around Chara plants. Quantitative studies on chloride transport through the node joining two internodes were begun independently by Tyree, Fischer and Dainty (1974) and by Walker and Bostrom (1973); Bostrom and Walker (1975). The present paper is based on the work of the latter authors, and considers its application to the general question of solute transport between Chara cells.