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Surface charge on isolated maize-coleoptile amyloplasts.

F D Sack¹, D A Priestley, A C Leopold

¹Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, Cornell University, 14853, Ithaca, NY, USA.

|November 23, 2013

Summary

Zea mays amyloplasts exhibit a negative surface charge, crucial for understanding plant gravity perception. This finding sheds light on the biophysical mechanisms underlying graviperception in plants.

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Area of Science:

Plant Biology
Biophysics
Cell Biology

Background:

Amyloplasts, key organelles in plant graviperception, are starch-filled plastids.
Their role in sensing gravity is linked to their movement within specialized cells called statocytes.
The biophysical properties of amyloplasts, such as surface charge, are hypothesized to influence their behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

To quantify the surface charge of whole amyloplasts isolated from Zea mays L. coleoptiles.
To investigate the relationship between amyloplast surface charge and plant age/light exposure.
To explore the potential role of amyloplast surface charge in plant graviperception.

Main Methods:

Isolation of whole amyloplasts from Zea mays L. coleoptiles.
Electron microscopy to confirm amyloplast envelope integrity.
Electrokinetic measurements (cataphoresis) to determine zeta potential.
Ultrastructural analysis using cationized ferritin binding.

Main Results:

Isolated amyloplasts consistently exhibited negative zeta potentials (mean of -19.4 mV).
Negative surface charge was observed across different plant ages and light exposure durations.
Isolated starch granules showed comparable negative surface charge.
Cationized ferritin binding confirmed the net negative surface charge on amyloplasts and starch grains.

Conclusions:

Amyloplasts and starch granules possess a net negative surface charge.
This charge may play a role in the sedimentation and interaction of amyloplasts within statocytes.
The findings support a hypothesized role for statolith charge in the mechanism of plant graviperception.