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Intracellular pH regulation in plants under anoxia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 August 2009

S. Egginton
Affiliation:
University of Birmingham
Edwin W. Taylor
Affiliation:
University of Birmingham
J. A. Raven
Affiliation:
University of Dundee
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Summary

Introduction

The pH of an intracellular compartment (pHi) depends on its buffering capacity, i.e. the concentration of weak acids, and on its ionic composition (Stewart, 1983). These properties are determined by metabolism and ion transport and since many biochemical and biophysical processes are sensitive to pH, it is reasonable to assume that any tendency for the pH to drift away from some notionally optimal or normal value will be corrected by altering the balance between the proton-consuming and proton-generating processes within the cell. In fact, Raven (1986) showed that pH regulation is an essential requirement for the growth of all plant cells; and, more generally, the ability to maintain electrochemical potential differences for the proton across membranes (ΔμH+), with the underlying contribution from any difference in pH, is a fundamental requirement of cellular energetics (Nicholls & Ferguson, 1992).

Intracellular pH values in plant cells can be measured by several methods (Guern et al., 1991), and most of the recent work has been done using microelectrodes, fluorescent probes and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Microelectrodes allow fast, real-time monitoring of single cells, as well as the simultaneous measurement of the functionally related membrane potential (Felle & Bertl, 1986; Felle, 1987, 1993); fluorescent probes allow non-invasive measurements of subcellular pH values (Kosegarten et al., 1997) and, in conjunction with laser scanning confocal microscopy, allow the construction of pH maps within cells and tissues (Gibbon & Kropf, 1994); and NMR provides a range of methods for measuring cytoplasmic and vacuolar pH values, while simultaneously recording other metabolically important information (Ratcliffe, 1994).

Type
Chapter
Information
Regulation of Tissue pH in Plants and Animals
A Reappraisal of Current Techniques
, pp. 193 - 214
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1999

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