Cable properties and compartmentation in Acetabularia

Abstract

The electrical cable properties of three different compartmentation types of Acetabularia cells have been investigated. These three types were: normal cells, 'stumps' (filled with cytoplasm, no central vacuole) and 'tubes' (cytoplasm depleted vacuoles). The latter two types have been obtained by centrifugation of normal cells. Qualitatively, the characteristic biphasic voltage response upon rectangular current pulses is the same in these three types. Quantitatively, however, the two conductances which can be obtained from the biphasic voltage response as well as the apparent capacity of several F . m-2 which derives from the large time constant of the second phase, are drastically increased in stumps and decreased in tubes compared to normal cells. The resting potential is a few mV more negative in stumps, and more positive in tubes, than in normal cells. Based on the existence of the high resting potential and the apparent large capacity in the non-vacuolated stumps, it is concluded that the electrogenic Cl- pump of Acetabularia is located in the plasmalemma membrane and that the apparent large capacity is not a result of the complicated membraneous organisation of the vacuolar system. Several possibilities are discussed, in relation to the quantitative correlation between intracellular compartmentation and electrical membrane parameters.