Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Sexual signalling in Chlamydomonas
- Gamete recognition and fertilisation in the fucoid algae
- The fungal surface and its role in sexual interactions
- Gamete recognition in angiosperms: model and strategy for analysis
- The molecular biology of self-incompatible responses
- Cell surface arabinogalactan proteins, arabinogalactans and plant development
- Local and systemic signalling during a plant defence response
- Contact sensing during infection by fungal pathogens
- The electrophysiology of root–zoospore interactions
- Molecular differentiation and development of the host–parasite interface in powdery mildew of pea
- Recognition signals and initiation of host responses controlling basic incompatibility between fungi and plants
- Cell surface interactions in endomycorrhizal symbiosis
- Host recognition in the Rhizobium leguminosarum–pea symbiosis
- The Rhizobium trap: root hair curling in root–nodule symbiosis
- Structure and function of Rhizobium lipopolysaccharide in relation to legume nodule development
- Index
- Plate section
The electrophysiology of root–zoospore interactions
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 May 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Sexual signalling in Chlamydomonas
- Gamete recognition and fertilisation in the fucoid algae
- The fungal surface and its role in sexual interactions
- Gamete recognition in angiosperms: model and strategy for analysis
- The molecular biology of self-incompatible responses
- Cell surface arabinogalactan proteins, arabinogalactans and plant development
- Local and systemic signalling during a plant defence response
- Contact sensing during infection by fungal pathogens
- The electrophysiology of root–zoospore interactions
- Molecular differentiation and development of the host–parasite interface in powdery mildew of pea
- Recognition signals and initiation of host responses controlling basic incompatibility between fungi and plants
- Cell surface interactions in endomycorrhizal symbiosis
- Host recognition in the Rhizobium leguminosarum–pea symbiosis
- The Rhizobium trap: root hair curling in root–nodule symbiosis
- Structure and function of Rhizobium lipopolysaccharide in relation to legume nodule development
- Index
- Plate section
Summary
Introduction
Plant roots generate electrical currents and voltages in the rhizosphere that may influence the behaviour of the many pathogenic, symbiotic or commensal microorganisms that live in association with them. These electrical currents represent circulations of protons and other ions. Consequently, they also lead to the creation of substantial ionic and pH gradients whose affect on the infection and colonisation of the root is only now being explored. Here, we summarise briefly what is known about the electrical currents of plant roots and discuss the ways in which they may influence the root microflora. In particular, we focus on the swimming zoospores of Phytophthora species, which are exquisitely sensitive to electrical fields and may target their host roots using a combination of chemotaxis and electrotaxis.
Growth and electricity
It has been known for many years that plants generate electrical currents (Müller-Hettlingen, 1883; Lund & Kenyon, 1927; Lund, 1947). These were first measured using microelectrodes inserted into cells at different regions of a root or tissue. Voltage differences were found between different sites and electrical current was presumed to flow through the cells between the electrodes and through the extracellular medium to complete the circuit. Endogenous currents in the extracellular loop of the circuit can now be measured directly, without invading cells with intracellular microelectrodes. In the 1970s ultrasensitive, voltage-sensing vibrating electrodes were devised that are capable of detecting the minute electrical fields generated by individual cells or tissues (Jaffe & Nuccitelli, 1974).
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- Perspectives in Plant Cell Recognition , pp. 173 - 192Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1992
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