LINKAGE BETWEEN OUTPUT OF ELECTRIC ENERGY BY POLAR TISSUES AND CELL OXIDATION

Abstract

The magnitude, orientation, and distribution of E.M.F.''s per unit length of root in Allium cepa are quantitatively linked with oxidative metabolism. Equal change in oxygen concentration around different regions of the root tip affects the regional polarity potentials in an unequal manner and concomitantly alters the electric polarity of the whole root tip. There is a correspondence between the gradation of effects on regional polarity potentials produced by equal change in oxygen concentration and the regional distribution of progressively greater tissue differentiation. The gradient of distribution of E.M.F. (per unit length of the root tip), which is an expression of gradation in rate of output of electric energy quantitatively associated with corresponding differences in velocity of oxidation and structural differences, is changed by changes in oxygen tension around the root tip. It is different in (a) moist air, (b) hydrogen, (c) oxygen. In hydrogen, the observed electric energy output by the cells is diminished; in oxygen, it is increased. The results furnish additional evidence for the validity of the theory that continuously maintained E.M.F.''s are generated by the redox system of the cell. The magnitude of E.M.F. at any instant depends upon the condition of a flux equilibrium in the process of cell oxidation. The facts constitute real evidence that the velocity of oxidation in the young, relatively undifferentiated tissue of the apical end of the root apex is greater than that in the older, permanently differentiated tissue of the base, and that the active mass of oxidizable substance is greater in young tissue.