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Collision of two action potentials in a single excitable cell
Christian Fillafer1, Anne Paeger1, Matthias F Schneider1
1Medical and Biological Physics, Faculty of Physics, Technical University Dortmund, Otto-Hahn-Str. 4, 44227 Dortmund, Germany.
Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta. General Subjects
|October 3, 2017
Summary
Two action potentials (APs) in plant cells annihilated when they collided head-on, rather than penetrating. This finding suggests APs share nonlinear properties with other biological excitation waves.
Area of Science:
- Plant Biology
- Biophysics
- Cellular Electrophysiology
Background:
- Head-on collisions of biological waves are common and informative.
- This study investigates the interaction of two action potentials (APs) in the excitable plant cell Chara braunii.
Purpose of the Study:
- To experimentally determine the outcome of head-on collisions between two action potentials (APs) in a single excitable plant cell.
- To compare the behavior of plant cell APs with theoretical models and other biological excitation phenomena.
Main Methods:
- Monitoring membrane potential using multiple sensors along the Chara braunii internode.
- Generating simultaneous, opposing APs by electrical stimulation at both ends of the cell.
Main Results:
- Two action potentials (APs) propagating towards each other did not penetrate but annihilated upon collision.
- This annihilation occurred consistently across 26 experiments in 10 different cells.
Conclusions:
- Action potentials (APs) in excitable plant cells exhibit non-penetrating behavior when colliding head-on.
- This annihilation phenomenon aligns with nonlinear material properties and suggests APs are a class of nonlinear phenomena similar to other biological waves.
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