Summary
Cells ofChara corallina grown under high CO2 culture conditions were able to utilize exogenous HCO3 − to give appreciable rates of net photosynthesis. Since these rates of photosynthesis could be detected within 10 min of being transferred from high-CO2 to normal HCO3 − (pH 8.2) culture conditions, it would appear that the HCO3 −-accumulating system ofChara is not fully repressed under these high CO2 culture conditions. The membrane potential of these cells also responded to light/dark treatments in a manner consistent with the operation of a HCO3 − acquisition system. With prolonged exposure (2–6 days) to CPW/B, net photosynthesis continued to increase towards the expected control rate and, in parallel, the electrical responses elicited by light/dark treatments converged towards those obtained on control (CPW/B-grown)Chara cells. Charasomes were absent in CPW/CO2-grownChara, but redeveloped in mature cells once the culture was returned to CPW/B conditions; a minimum period of 7 days in CPW/B was required before charasomes were detected in tissue examined in the transmission electron microscope. As the above-detailed physiological and electrophysiological features were observed with both axial and whorl cells ofChara in which charasomes were completely absent, we conclude that this specialized organelle is not an essential component for photosynthetic utilization of exogenous HCO3 − in this species.
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Abbreviations
- CPW/B:
-
Chara pond water containing 1.0 mM NaHCO3, pH8.2
- CPW/CO2 :
-
Chara pond water containing dissolved CO2, pH 5.5
- DIC:
-
dissolved in organic carbon
- D.H.:
-
dark-induced membrane hyperpolarization
- L.H.:
-
light-induced membrane hyperpolarization
- TEM:
-
transmission electron microscopy
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Lucas, W.J., Brechignac, F., Mimura, T. et al. Charasomes are not essential for photosynthetic utilization of exogenous HCO3 − inChara corallina . Protoplasma 151, 106–114 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01403447
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01403447