Interaction between like-charged colloidal spheres in electrolyte solutions

How colloidal particles interact with each other is one of the key issues that determines our ability to interpret experimental results for phase transitions in colloidal dispersions and our ability to apply colloid science to various industrial processes. The long-accepted theories for answering this question have been challenged by results from recent experiments. Herein we show from Monte-Carlo simulations that there is a short-range attractive force between identical macroions in electrolyte solutions containing divalent counterions. Complementing some recent and related results by others, we present strong evidence of attraction between a pair of spherical macroions in the presence of added salt ions for the conditions where the interacting macroion pair is not affected by any other macroions that may be in the solution. This attractive force follows from the internal-energy contribution of counterion mediation. Contrary to conventional expectations, for charged macroions in an electrolyte solution, the entropic force is repulsive at most solution conditions because of localization of small ions in the vicinity of macroions. Both Derjaguin–Landau–Verwey–Overbeek theory and Sogami–Ise theory fail to describe the attractive interactions found in our simulations; the former predicts only repulsive interaction and the latter predicts a long-range attraction that is too weak and occurs at macroion separations that are too large. Our simulations provide fundamental “data” toward an improved theory for the potential of mean force as required for optimum design of new materials including those containing nanoparticles.

Evidence for the existence of a sulfonylurea-receptor-like protein in plants: Modulation of stomatal movements and guard cell potassium channels by sulfonylureas and potassium channel openers

Limitation of water loss and control of gas exchange is accomplished in plant leaves via stomatal guard cells. Stomata open in response to light when an increase in guard cell turgor is triggered by ions and water influx across the plasma membrane. Recent evidence demonstrating the existence of ATP-binding cassette proteins in plants led us to analyze the effect of compounds known for their ability to modulate ATP-sensitive potassium channels (K-ATP) in animal cells. By using epidermal strip bioassays and whole-cell patch-clamp experiments with Vicia faba guard cell protoplasts, we describe a pharmacological profile that is specific for the outward K+ channel and very similar to the one described for ATP-sensitive potassium channels in mammalian cells. Tolbutamide and glibenclamide induced stomatal opening in bioassays and in patch-clamp experiments, a specific inhibition of the outward K+ channel by these compounds was observed. Conversely, application of potassium channel openers such as cromakalim or RP49356 triggered stomatal closure. An apparent competition between sulfonylureas and potassium channel openers occurred in bioassays, and outward potassium currents, previously inhibited by glibenclamide, were partially recovered after application of cromakalim. By using an expressed sequence tag clone from an Arabidopsis thaliana homologue of the sulfonylurea receptor, a 7-kb transcript was detected by Northern blot analysis in guard cells and other tissues. Beside the molecular evidence recently obtained for the expression of ATP-binding cassette protein transcripts in plants, these results give pharmacological support to the presence of a sulfonylurea-receptor-like protein in the guard-cell plasma membrane tightly involved in the outward potassium channel regulation during stomatal movements.

Coordinate regulation of Bacillus subtilis peroxide stress genes by hydrogen peroxide and metal ions.

The Bacillus subtilis mrgA gene encodes an abundant DNA-binding protein that protects cells against the lethal effects of H2O2. Transcription of mrgA is induced by H2O2 or by entry into stationary phase when manganese and iron levels are low. We have selected for strains derepressed for transcription of mrgA in the presence of Mn(II). The resulting cis-acting mutants define an operator site just upstream of the mrgA promoter. Similar sequences flank the promoters for the catalase gene, katA, and the heme biosynthesis operon, hemAXCDBL. Like mrgA, transcription of the katA and hem genes is repressed by Mn(II), which thereby potentiates the killing action of H2O2. We identified two classes of trans-acting mutants derepressed for mrgA transcription in the presence of Mn(II): some exhibit a coordinate derepression of MrgA, catalase, heme biosynthesis, and alkyl hydroperoxide reductase and are H2O2 resistant, while others have reduced catalase activity and are H2O2 sensitive. These data indicate that the peroxide stress response of B. subtilis is regulated by a repressor that senses both metal ion levels and H2O2.