Electrical perception of the 'death message' in Chara: Characterization of K+-induced depolarization

Abstract

When the nodal end of an internodal cell of Chara corallina was subjected to a pulse treatment with artificial cell sap, a depolarization lasted in artificial pond water. This depolarization could also be induced by pulse treatment with KCl solution, indicating that K+ in the artificial cell sap is responsible (K+-induced depolarization). The depolarization was prolonged in the presence of 2 inM KCl and the prolonged depolarization was terminated by supplementing with either CaCl2, MgCl2 or NaCl. These results supported the hypothesis that K+ released from the killed cell is responsible for generation of the wound-induced membrane depolarization. JSPP © 2006.