Cable correction of membrane currents recorded from root hairs of Arabidopsis thaliana L.

Membrane currents were recorded under voltage clamp from root hairs of Arabidopsis thaliana L. using the two-electrode method. Concurrent measurements of membrane voltage distal to the point of current injection were also carried out to assess the extent of current dissipation along the root hair axis. Estimates of the characteristic cable length, λ, showed this parameter to be a function both of membrane voltage and of substrate concentration for transport. The mean value for λ at 0 mV was 103 ± 20 μm (n=17), but ranged by as much as 6-fold in any one cell for membrane voltages from -300 to +40 mV and was affected by 0.25 to 3-fold at any one voltage on raising [K⁺]₀ from 0.1 to 10 mol m^-3. Current dissipation along the length of the cells lead to serious distortions of the current-voltage [I-V) characteristic, including consistent underestimates of membrane current as well as a general linearization of the I-V curve and a masking of conductance changes in the presence of transported substrates. In some experiments, microelectrodes were also placed in neighbouring epidermal cells to record the extent of intercellular coupling. Even with current-passing microelectrodes placed at the base of root hairs, coupling was ≤5% (voltage deflection of the epidermal cell ≤5% that recorded at the site of current injection), indicating an appreciable resistance to current passage between cells. These results demonstrate the feasibility of using root hairs as a 'single-cell model' in electrophysiological analyses of transport across the higher-plant plasma membrane; they also confirmed the need to correct for the cable properties of these cells on a cell-by-cell basis. © 1994 Oxford University Press.

Suppression of the high affinity phosphate uptake system:A mechanism of arsenate tolerance in Holcus lanatus L.

In Holcus lanatus L. phosphate and arsenate are taken up by the same transport system. Short-term uptake kinetics of the high affinity arsenate transport system were determined in excised roots of arsenate-tolerant and non-tolerant genotypes. In tolerant plants the V_max of ion uptake in plants grown in phosphate-free media was decreased compared to non-tolerant plants, and the affinity of the uptake system was lower than in the non-tolerant plants. Both the reduction in V_max and the increase in K_m led to reduced arsenate influx into tolerant roots. When the two genotypes were grown in nutrient solution containing high levels of phosphate, there was little change in the uptake kinetics in tolerant plants. In non-tolerant plants, however, there was a marked decrease in the V_max to the level of the tolerant plants but with little change in the K_m. This suggests that the low rate of arsenate uptake over a wide range of differing root phosphate status is due to loss of induction of the synthesis of the arsenate (phosphate) carrier. © 1992 Oxford University Press.