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Plant Physiology 92:103-109 (1990)
© 1990 American Society of Plant Biologists

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Environmental and Stress Physiology

Leaf Cuticles Behave as Asymmetric Membranes 1

Evidence from the Measurement of Diffusion Potentials

Melvin T. Tyree, Timothy D. Scherbatskoy and Christopher A. Tabor

Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, P. O. Box 968, Burlington, Vermont 05402, Botany Department, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405

Cuticles were isolated enzymatically from the leaves of two maple species (Acer saccharum Marsh and A. platanoides L.) and from orange (Citrus aurantium L.). The cuticles were placed in a plastic cuvette and different concentrations of KCl were perfused over the physiological inner and outer surfaces while the electrical potential (E10) that developed across the cuticles and was caused by ion diffusion was measured. E10 was always positive, indicating that the permeability of K+ was always greater than that of Cl-. Measured E10 in cuticles did not fit the Goldman equation, whereas, E10 measured during KCl diffusion across selected artificial membranes fit the equation. The magnitude of E10 in cuticles and artificial membranes also was dependent on ionic strength, decreasing as ionic strength increased. These observations are explained by combining classical transport equations with equations that describe the equilibrium ion distribution between ionic double layers in the cuticle or membranes and the bathing solution.

1 This research was supported by funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, and by grant numbers USDA 87-CRSR-2-3021 and USDA 88-34157-3748.




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J. Schonherr
Characterization of aqueous pores in plant cuticles and permeation of ionic solutes
J. Exp. Bot., August 1, 2006; 57(11): 2471 - 2491.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


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Copyright © 1990 by the American Society of Plant Biologists