Electrophysiology and Phototropism - Communication in Plants: Neuronal Aspects of Plant Life - page 352

Nerve cells in animals and phloem cells in plants share one fundamental
property: they possess excitable membranes through which electrical ex-
citations, in the form of action potentials, can propagate. Plants generate
bioelectrochemical signals that resemble nerve impulses, and are present in
plants at all evolutionary levels (Goldsworthy 1983). Prior to the morpho-
logical differentiation of nervous tissues, the inducement of nonexcitability
after excitation and the summation of subthreshold irritations were devel-
oped in the vegetative and animal kingdoms in protoplasmatic structures.
Thecells,tissues,andorgansofplantstransmitelectrochemicalimpulses
over short and long distances via the plasma membrane (Bose 1925; from
and Bauer 1994; Volkov and Jovanov 2002). It is conceivable that action
potentials are the mechanisms for intercellular and intracellular commu-
nication in response to environmental irritants (Bertholon 1783; Labady et
al. 2002; Mwesigwa et al. 2000). Initially, plants respond to irritants at the
site of stimulation; however, excitation waves can be distributed across the
membranes throughout the entire plant. Bioelectrical impulses travel from
the root to the stem and vice versa. Chemical treatment, the intensity of the
irritation, mechanical wounding, previous excitations, temperature, and
other irritants influence the speed of propagation (Shvetsova et al. 2001,
2002; Sinyukhin and Britikov 1967; Volkov et al. 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004,
2005).
Thephloemisasophisticatedtissueinthevascularsystemofhigher
plants.Representingacontinuumofplasmamembranes,thephloemis
a potential pathway for transmission of electrical signals. It consists of two
types of conducting cells: the characteristic sieve-tube elements, and the
companion cells. Sieve-tube elements are elongated cells that have end walls
perforated by numerous minute pores through which dissolved materials
can pass. Sieve-tube elements are connected in a vertical series known as
sieve tubes. Sieve-tube elements are alive at maturity; however, before the
element begins its conductive function, their nuclei dissipate. The smaller
companion cells have nuclei at maturity and are living. They are adjacent
to the sieve-tube elements. It is hypothesized that they control the process
of conduction in the sieve tubes. Thus, when the phloem is stimulated at
any point, the action potential is propagated over the entire length of the
cell membrane and along the phloem with a constant voltage.
Electrical potentials have been measured at the tissue and whole plant
level (Davies 1987). At the cellular level, electrical potentials exist across
membranes, and thus between cellular and specific compartments. Elec-
trolytic species such as K + ,Ca 2+ ,H + ,andCl − areactivelyinvolvedinthe
establishment and modulation of electrical potentials. The highly selective
ion channels serve as natural electrochemical nanodevices. Voltage-gated
ion channels, as nanopotentiostats, regulate the flow of electrolytic species,
and determine the membrane potential (Brown et al. 2005).