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THE INTERFACE BETWEEN COTTON TISSUE AND A PENETRATING NOBLE METAL PROBE
Author(s) -
Goldstein A. H.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.1002/j.1537-2197.1982.tb13286.x
Subject(s) - xylem , biophysics , biology , plant tissue , electron micrographs , extracellular , materials science , biomedical engineering , botany , electron microscope , optics , biochemistry , physics , medicine
A passive system that may be useful for measuring changes of the redox potential of in vivo, extracellular plant tissue has been developed within the past few years. The technique involves the placement of a small (250 μm diam) noble metal probe into the anatomical region of interest and subsequent monitoring of the time variation in the measured electrode potential of this probe. The result of this measuring technique has been termed an electrophytogram. The observed voltage fluctuations may be empirically correlated with several observable plant growth phenomena. However, elucidation of the physiological basis for electrophytograms must involve the proper anatomical interpretation of the position of the probe relative to the plant tissue. This paper reports the results of freeze‐fracture electron microscopic examination of the probe/tissue interface after wound healing has occurred. Electron micrographs clearly show cell wall material, appressed directly against the probe. These results indicate that the electrophytogram system provides a method for monitoring the electrochemical status of the cell wall space. Insertion of the probe into mature, fully elongated tissue appears to cause little physical damage to non‐xylem tissue organization beyond the adjacent cell layers and virtually no damage to the xylem region.