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A light-dependent current associated with chloroplast aggregation in the alga Vaucheria sessilis

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Abstract

Local irradiation of the alga Vaucheria sessilis (Vauch.) D.C. with blue light, which stimulates cortical fiber reticulation and chloroplast aggregation (M.R. Blatt and W.R. Briggs, 1980, Planta 147, 355–362), also induces an outward-directed current from the irradiated region of the cell. This current appears in conjunction with cortical fiber reticulation and precedes chloroplast aggregation. The current is not photosynthetic in origin, as indicated by experiments with 3(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethyl urea and carbonyl-cyanide-m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP). It shows a wavelength-dependence similar to that of chloroplast aggregation and reaches a maximum of 500 nA cm-2 with saturating light intensities. The current is not dependent upon the presence of Na+, K+, or Cl- in a test medium containing only Na+, K+, Ca2+, and Cl-, but is inhibited, apparently nonspecifically, in the absence of external calcium. Both the light-induced current and chloroplast aggregation are stimulated by increases in the external KCl concentration and are inhibited by sub-micromolar concentrations of CCCP or by external pHs below approximately 5.5. We suggest that blue light stimulates the local extrusion of cations, possibly of protons, at the plasma membrane, an event which may act to destabilize the cortical fibers in Vaucheria, disrupt cytoplasmic streaming, and eventually lead to organelle aggregation in the light.

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Author notes

  1. Michael R. Blatt

    Present address: Department of Physiology, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar St., 06510, New Haven, CT, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Biology, Carnegic Institution of Washington, 290 Panama St., 94305, Stanford, CA, USA

    Michael R. Blatt

  2. Institut für Botanik und Pharmazeutische Biologie der Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Schloßgarten 4, D-8520, Erlangen, Federal Republic of Germany

    Manfred H. Weisenseel & Wolfgang Haupt

Authors
  1. Michael R. Blatt
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  2. Manfred H. Weisenseel
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  3. Wolfgang Haupt
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C.I.W.-D.P.B. Publication No. 712

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Blatt, M.R., Weisenseel, M.H. & Haupt, W. A light-dependent current associated with chloroplast aggregation in the alga Vaucheria sessilis . Planta 152, 513–526 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00380822

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00380822

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