Slow Wave Potentials –a Propagating Electrical Signal Unique to Higher Plants - Communication in Plants: Neuronal Aspects of Plant Life - page 298

The SWP phenomenon suggests that the epidermal cells of many species
and organs show a depolarization as a consequence of a rapidly rising turgor
pressure. The quantitative characterization of this relationship, e.g., with
the use of a combination probe measuring turgor pressure and membrane
potential, would fill the remaining void about the hydraulic induction of the
SWP. Pressure steps can become severely reduced on their centrifugal path
from the xylem to the epidermis (Westgate and Steudle 1985). Application
of 100 kPa pressure steps to 3 cm-long epicotyl segments was insufficient
to cause a measurable increase in epidermal turgor pressure (Stahlberg
and Cosgrove 1992). Stankovic and Malone (1991) measured large turgor
pressure changes in the epidermal cells of torched wheat leaves but not
the increase in xylem pressure. Together with the radial dissipation of
xylem pressure steps, a parallel study of the radial propagation of the
depolarizationfromthevascularbundlestotheepidermiswouldbeuseful
to fully understand the conversion of pressure into electrical signals. So far
such studies exist only for APs (Rhodes et al. 1996; Herde et al. 1998).
Induction of SWPs by small pressure steps applied without injury to
intact plants also presents a powerful argument against participation of
chemical wound factors and for a purely hydraulic induction of SWPs
(Stahlberg and Cosgrove 1995, 1996). In spite of this, it is still consid-
ered that some plant species may use electrogenic substances to induce
propagating electrical signals. The idea draws support from the finding
that raw extracts from Mimosa , Biophytum andtomatoplantswereableto
induce propagating depolarizations (Ricca 1916; Umrath 1959; Van Sam-
beek et al. 1976; Cheeseman and Pickard 1977; Sibaoka 1997). On the other
hand, feeding of wound sap to excised pea epicotyls showed clearly that
peas do not use wound substances for SWP generation (Stahlberg and
Cosgrove 1992). Figure 20.5 shows a test of whether the xylem-mediated
transport of strongly depolarizing agents like cyanide and azide is capable
of generating a propagating depolarization in excised sunflower shoots.
The induced signal moves slowly (less than 1 mm s −1 )incomparisonwith
a hydraulically induced SWP (5−10 mm s −1 ; e.g., Fig. 20.6) with depolariza-
tions being sustained rather than transient. In order to produce SWP-like
signals, potential excitation substances must (1) be shown to accumulate
in sufficient quantity to cause a large and rapid depolarization, (2) be able
easily to access and exit the vascular bundles and (3) cause transient de-
polarizations. None of the many SWPs recorded so far have been shown to
fulfill these criteria.
While experimental methods of induction explore signal character and
effects, it is equally important to find natural circumstances under which
plants generate SWPs. Such situations include puncture wounds by sap-
sucking insects (Alarcon and Malone 1994; Volkov and Haak 1995; Fig. 20.6);
embolisms (Stahlberg and Cosgrove 1996), soil hydration during rains and