Amino acid uptake by Lemna gibba by a mechanism with affinity to neutral L-and D-amino acids

Abstract

Earlier work suggested that amino acid uptake by Lemna gibba cells is a H⁺-cotransport mechanism driven by a proton-electrochemical gradient at the plasmalemma. The present investigations of the transient membrane depolarizations elicited by amino acids and tracer-uptake experiments show that all neutral α-L-amino acids, D-alanine and analogues, like β-alanine and p-fluorophenylalanine, are transported by the same system. It remains to be seen if there are separate mechanisms for the uptake of acidic and basic amino acids.