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Attempts to measure plasmalemma and tonoplast electropotentials in small cells of the mossMnium using centrifugation techniques

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Summary

Centrifugation techniques are described which allow that glass microelectrodes can be inserted separately into cytoplasm and vacuoles of intact cells of the mossMnium cuspidatum. This provides unequivocal measurements of the plasmalemma potential (E co between cytoplasm and outer medium). For various reasons, which are discussed in detail, determinations of the tonoplast potential (E vc between vacuole and cytoplasm) remain ambiguous. In the moss cells equilibrated with artificial pond water (APW),E co is highly negative (i.e. −130 to −190 mV).E vc is either close to 0 mV or positive (+60 to +65 mV) depending on the interpretation of the measurements. However, there is no reason to suggest that under these conditions highly negative potentials occur at the tonoplast.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Botanisches Institut, Fachbereich Biologie, Technische Hochschule, Darmstadt, Germany

    Ulrich Lüttge & Gerlinde Zirke

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  1. Ulrich Lüttge
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  2. Gerlinde Zirke
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Lüttge, U., Zirke, G. Attempts to measure plasmalemma and tonoplast electropotentials in small cells of the mossMnium using centrifugation techniques. J. Membrain Biol. 18, 305–314 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01870119

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01870119

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