Interpretation of the Dual Isotherm for Ion Absorption in Beet Tissue

Abstract

Beet discs aged in 0.5 mM CaSO4 develop a capacity to absorb K+ and Cl- from solutions of low concentration. The initial influx of these ions is described by a hyperbolic relationship with concentration in the range 0.01 to 0.5 mM KC1, which is identical with the system 1 absorption iostherm found in other tissues. A 2nd hyperbolic isotherm, attributable to system 2, is found at higher concentrations (1-50 mM KC1). When the transport of labeled ion to the vacuole is studied by wash-exchanging the bulk of the cytoplasmic label following the absorption period, it is noted that in the range of system 1, isotope influx to the vacuole increases with time as the concentration of labeled ions in the cytoplasm increases, while in the range of system 2, influx to the vacuole is constant from the beginning. Diminution of the cytoplasmic specific activity during radioisotope absorption by prefilling the cytoplasm with the analogous unlabeled salt, markedly reduces subsequent radioisotope uptake to the vacuole only in the range of system 1. These experiments suggest that the cytoplasm serves as a mixing chamber, and that the plasma membrane controls ion uptake to the tissue at low concentrations, indicating that the system 1 isotherm reflects ion movement into the cytoplasm through the plasma membrane. Flux experiments support this conclusion, showing that development with age of the system 1 isotherm corresponds to a quantitatively similar increase in plasma membrane influx in 0.2 mM KCl. At higher concentrations the outer membrane no longer rate-limits entry of ions to the vacuole. Isotope influx under these conditions, described by the system 2 isotherm, presumably reflects movement across the tonoplast.