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ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS AND ADAPTATION TO STRESS

System Potentials, a Novel Electrical Long-Distance Apoplastic Signal in Plants, Induced by Wounding¹

Botanisches Institut I, Justus-Liebig-Universität, D–35390 Giessen, Germany (M.R.Z., H.H.F.); and Max-Planck-Institut für Chemische Ökologie, D–07745 Jena, Germany (H.M., A.M., W.B.)

Systemic signaling was investigated in both a dicot (Vicia faba) and a monocot (Hordeum vulgare) plant. Stimuli were applied to one leaf (S-leaf), and apoplastic responses were monitored on a distant leaf (target; T-leaf) with microelectrodes positioned in substomatal cavities of open stomata. Leaves that had been injured by cutting and to which a variety of cations were subsequently added caused voltage transients at the T-leaf, which are neither action potentials nor variation potentials: with respect to the cell interior, the initial polarity of these voltage transients is hyperpolarizing; they do not obey the all-or-none rule but depend on both the concentration and the type of substance added and propagate at 5 to 10 cm min^–1. This response is thought to be due to the stimulation of the plasma membrane H⁺-ATPase, a notion supported by the action of fusicoccin, which also causes such voltage transients to appear on the T-leaf, whereas orthovanadate prevents their propagation. Moreover, apoplastic ion flux analysis reveals that, in contrast to action or variation potentials, all of the investigated ion movements (Ca²⁺, K⁺, H⁺, and Cl^–) occur after the voltage change begins. We suggest that these wound-induced "system potentials" represent a new type of electrical long-distance signaling in higher plants.

The author responsible for distribution of materials integral to the findings presented in this article in accordance with the policy described in the Instructions to Authors (www.plantphysiol.org) is: Hubert H. Felle (hubert.felle{at}bio.uni-giessen.de).

www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/doi/10.1104/pp.108.133884

^* Corresponding author; e-mail hubert.felle{at}bio.uni-giessen.de.

Received December 8, 2008; accepted December 22, 2008; published January 7, 2009.

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