Characterization and expression of Arabidopsis UDP-sugar pyrophosphorylase.

At5g52560, a homolog of pea (Pisum sativum) UDP-sugar pyrophosphorylase (PsUSP) was functionally annotated by expression in Escherichia coli and subsequent characterization of substrate specificity and kinetic properties. Arabidopsis contains a single USP gene (AtUSP) and evaluation of gene databases suggests that USP is unique to plants. The 69 kDa AtUSP gene product exhibited high activity with Glc-1-P, GlcA-1-P and Gal-1-P, but low activity with GlcNAc-1-P, Fuc-1-P, Man-1-P, inositol-1-P or Glc-6-P. AtUSP was activated by magnesium and preferred UTP as co-substrate. Apparent K(m) values for GlcA-1-P, Glc-1-P and UTP were 0.13 mM, 0.42 mM and 0.14 mM, respectively. In the reverse direction (pyrophosphorolysis), the apparent K(m) values for UDP-GlcA, UDP-Glc and pyrophosphate were 0.56 mM, 0.72 mM and 0.15 mM, respectively. USP enzyme activity (UDP-GlcA --> GlcA-1-P) was detected in Arabidopsis tissues with highest activity found in the inflorescence. As determined by semi-quantitative RT-PCR, AtUSP transcript is widely expressed with high levels detected in the inflorescence. To evaluate tissue-specific expression of AtUSP, histochemical GUS staining of plants transformed with AtUSPprom:GUS constructs was performed. In 7-day-old seedlings, GUS staining was detected in cotyledons, trichomes and vascular tissues of the primary root. In the inflorescence of older plants, high levels of GUS staining were detected in cauline leaves, the epidermis of the stem and in pollen. In silico analysis of AtUSP expression in developing pollen indicates that transcript levels increase as development proceeds from the uninucleate to the tricellular stage. The results suggest that AtUSP plays an important role in pollen development in Arabidopsis.

Histone Deacetylase Activity and Phytotoxic Effects Following Exposure of Duckweed (Lemna pausicostata L.) to Apicidin and HC-Toxin.

ABSTRACT The effects of two cyclic tetrapeptide fungal toxins, apicidin (from Fusarium spp.) and HC-toxin (from Cochliobolus carbonum), on duckweed (Lemna pausicostata L.) were examined. Both toxins inhibited histone deacetylase (HD) activity from duckweed plantlets; the effective concentration (EC(50)) for inhibition of HD was 5.6 and 1.1 muM for apicidin and HC-toxin, respectively. Approximately 65 and 85% of in vitro HD activity was inhibited by 50 muM apicidin or HC-toxin, respectively. Exposing duckweed for 72 h to apicidin or HC-toxin (25 or 50 muM) enhanced cellular leakage, impaired chlorophyll synthesis, and inhibited growth (cell division). At equivalent concentrations, the effects of HC-toxin were more pronounced than those of apicidin. In fronds, 72 h of exposure to 50 muM apicidin resulted in chloroplast deterioration indicated by loss of orientation and excess starch accumulation. In roots, a 72-h treatment with 50 muM apicidin resulted in the loss of the root cap and increased vacuolization and starch accumulation in plastids.

Isolation and characterization of glutathione S-transferase isozymes from sorghum.

Two glutathione S-transferase (GST) isozymes, A1/A1 and B1/B2, were purified from etiolated, O-1,3-dioxolan-2-yl-methyl-2,2,2, -trifluoro-4'-chloroacetophenone-oxime-treated sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) shoots. GST A1/A1, a constitutively expressed homodimer, had a subunit molecular mass of 26 kD and an isoelectric point of 4.9. GST A1/A1 exhibited high activity with 1-chloro-2, 4, dinitrobenzene (CDNB) but low activity with the chloroacetanilide herbicide metolachlor. For GST A1/A1, the random, rapid-equilibrium bireactant kinetic model provided a good description of the kinetic data for the substrates CDNB and glutathione (GSH). GST B1/B2 was a heterodimer with subunit molecular masses of 26 kD (designated the B1 subunit) and 28 kD (designated the B2 subunit) and a native isoelectric point of 4.8. GST B1/B2 exhibited low activity with CDNB and high activity with metolachlor as the substrate. The kinetics of GST B1/B2 activity with GSH and metolachlor fit a model describing a multisite enzyme having two binding sites with different affinities for these substrates. Both GST A1/A1 and GST B1/B2 exhibited GSH-conjugating activity with ethacrynic acid and GSH peroxidase activity with cumene hydroperoxide, 9-hydroperoxy-trans-10, cis-12-octadecadienoic acid and 13-hydroperoxy-cis-9, trans-11-octadecadienoic acid. Both GST A1/A1 and GST B1/B2 are glycoproteins, as indicated by their binding of concanavalin A. Polyclonal antibodies raised against GST A1/A1 exhibited cross-reactivity with the B1 subunit of GST B1/B2. Comparisons of the N-terminal amino acid sequences of the GST A1, B1, and B2 subunits with other type I theta-GSTs indicated a high degree of homology with the maize GST I subunit and a sugarcane GST.

Purification and Characterization of Acetyl-Coenzyme A Carboxylase from Diclofop-Resistant and -Susceptible Lolium multiflorum.

Acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase (ACCase) was purified >100-fold (specific activity 3.5 units mg-1) from leaf tissue of diclofopresistant and -susceptible biotypes of Lolium multiflorum. As determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the purified fractions from both biotypes contained a single 206-kD biotinylated polypeptide. The molecular mass of the native enzyme from both biotypes was approximately 520 kD. In some cases the native dimer from both biotypes dissociated during gel filtration to form a subunit of approximately 224 kD. The inclusion of 5% (w/v) polyethylene glycol 3350 (PEG) in the elution buffer prevented this dissociation. Steady-state substrate kinetics were analyzed in both the presence and absence of 5% PEG. For ACCase from both biotypes, addition of PEG increased the velocity 22% and decreased the apparent Km values for acetyl-coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA), but increased the Km values for bicarbonate and ATP. In the presence of PEG, the Km values for bicarbonate and ATP were approximately 35% higher for the enzyme from the susceptible biotype compared with the resistant enzyme. In the absence of PEG, no differences in apparent Km values were observed for the enzymes from the two biotypes. Inhibition constants (Ki app) were determined for CoA, malonyl-CoA, and diclofop. CoA was an S-hyperbolic (slope replots)-I-hyperbolic (intercept replots) noncompetitive inhibitor with respect to acetyl-CoA, with Ki app values of 711 and 795 [mu]M for enzymes from the resistant and susceptible biotypes, respectively. Malonyl-CoA competitively inhibited both enzymes (versus acetyl-CoA) with Ki app values of 140 and 104 [mu]M for ACCase from resistant and susceptible biotypes, respectively. Diclofop was a linear noncompetitive inhibitor of ACCase from the susceptible biotype and a nonlinear, or S-hyperbolic-I-hyperbolic, noncompetitive inhibitor of ACCase from the resistant biotype. For ACCase from the susceptible biotype the slope (Kis) and intercept (Kii) inhibition constants for diclofop versus acetyl-CoA were 0.08 and 0.44 [mu]M, respectively. ACCase from the resistant biotype had a Ki app value of 6.5 [mu]M. At a subsaturating acetyl-CoA concentration of 50 [mu]M, the Hill coefficients for diclofop binding were 0.61 and 1.2 for ACCase from the resistant and susceptible biotypes, respectively. The Hill coefficients for diclofop binding and the inhibitor replots suggest that the resistant form of ACCase exhibits negative cooperativity in binding diclofop. However, the possibility that the nonlinear inhibition of ACCase activity by diclofop in the enzyme fraction isolated from the resistant biotype is due to the presence of both resistant and susceptible forms of ACCase cannot be excluded.

Effects of Acetyl-Coenzyme A Carboxylase Inhibitors on Root Cell Transmembrane Electric Potentials in Graminicide-Tolerant and -Susceptible Corn (Zea mays L.).

Herbicidal activity of aryloxyphenoxypropionate and cyclohexanedione herbicides (graminicides) has been proposed to involve two mechanisms: inhibition of acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase (ACCase) and depolarization of cell membrane potential. We examined the effect of aryloxyphenoxypropionates (diclofop and haloxyfop) and cyclohexanediones (sethoxydim and clethodim) on root cortical cell membrane potential of graminicide-susceptible and -tolerant corn (Zea mays L.) lines. The graminicide-tolerant corn line contained a herbicide-insensitive form of ACCase. The effect of the herbicides on membrane potential was similar in both corn lines. At a concentration of 50 [mu]M, the cyclohexanediones had little or no effect on the membrane potential of root cells. At pH 6, 50 [mu]M diclofop, but not haloxyfop, depolarized membrane potential, whereas both herbicides (50 [mu]M) dramatically depolarized membrane potential at pH 5. Repolarization of membrane potential after removal of haloxyfop and diclofop from the treatment solution was incomplete at pH 5. However, at pH 6 nearly complete repolarization of membrane potential occurred after removal of diclofop. In graminicide-susceptible corn, root growth was significantly inhibited by a 24-h exposure to 1 [mu]M haloxyfop or sethoxydim, but cell membrane potential was unaffected. In gramincide-tolerant corn, sethoxydim treatment (1 [mu]M, 48 h) had no effect on root growth, whereas haloxyfop (1 [mu]M, 48 h) inhibited root growth by 78%. However, membrane potential was the same in roots treated with 1 [mu]M haloxyfop or sethoxydim. The results of this study indicate that graminicide tolerance in the corn line used in this investigation is not related to an altered response at the cell membrane level as has been demonstrated with other resistant species.

Expression of the Acc1 Gene-Encoded Acetyl-Coenzyme A Carboxylase in Developing Maize (Zea mays L.) Kernels.

A mutation (Acc1-S2) in the structural gene for maize (Zea mays L.) acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase (ACCase) that significantly reduces sethoxydim inhibition of leaf ACCase activity was used to investigate the gene-enzyme relationship regulating ACCase activity during oil deposition in developing kernels. Mutant embryo and endosperm ACCase activities were more than 600-fold less sensitive to sethoxydim inhibition than ACCase in wild-type kernel tissues. Moreover, in vitro cultured mutant kernels developed normally in the presence of sethoxydim concentrations that inhibited wild-type kernel development. The results indicate that the Acc1-encoded ACCase accounts for the majority of ACCase activity in developing maize kernels, suggesting that Acc1-encoded ACCase functions not only during membrane biogenesis in leaves but is also the predominant form of ACCase involved in storage lipid biosynthesis in maize embryos.

Characterization of Maize Acetyl-Coenzyme A Carboxylase.

Maize (Zea mays L.) leaf acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase) was purified about 500-fold by ammonium sulfate fractionation and gel filtration and blue Sepharose affinity and anion-exchange chromatography. Most ACCase activity (85%) recovered from the anion-exchange column was found in a highly purified fraction (specific activity 5.5 [mu]mol acid-stable product min-1 mg-1) that consisted primarily of a single 227-kD biotinylated polypeptide. The fraction represented 29% of the original activity and was designated ACCase I. A second partially purified ACCase activity (ACCase II) eluted earlier during anion-exchange chromatography, contained a single biotinylated polypeptide of 219 kD, was poorly recognized by antiserum raised against the ACCase I polypeptide, and was less inhibited by the herbicides haloxyfop or sethoxydim than was ACCase I. ACCase I and II both utilized propionyl-CoA as substrate about 50% as effectively as acetyl-CoA, and neither utilized methylcrotonyl-CoA. Immunoprecipitation with antiserum and protein blotting of crude extracts of leaf, embryo, and endosperm tissue and suspension cells indicated that most ACCase activity in these tissues was immunologically similar and consisted of ACCase I. Only leaves contained significant amounts of the ACCase II polypeptide; however, no ACCase II polypeptide was found in isolated mesophyll chloroplasts. The ACCase I and II polypeptides appear to be subunits of distinct ACCase isoforms.

Allelic mutations in acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase confer herbicide tolerance in maize.

The genetic relationship between acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase (ACCase; EC 6.4.1.2.) activity and herbicide tolerance was determined for five maize (Zea mays L.) mutants regenerated from tissue cultures selected for tolerance to the ACCase-inhibiting herbicides, sethoxydim and haloxyfop. Herbicide tolerance in each mutant was inherited as a partially dominant, nuclear mutation. Allelism tests indicated that the five mutations were allelic. Three distinguishable herbicide tolerance phenotypes were differentiated among the five mutants. Seedling tolerance to herbicide treatments cosegregated with reduced inhibition of seedling leaf ACCase activity by sethoxydim and haloxyfop demonstrating that alterations of ACCase conferred herbicide tolerance. Therefore, we propose that at least three, and possible five, new alleles of the maize ACCase structural gene (Acc1) were identified based on their differential response to sethoxydim and haloxyfop. The group represented by Acc1-S1, Acc1-S2 and Acc1-S3 alleles, which had similar phenotypes, exhibited tolerance to high rates of sethoxydim and haloxyfop. The Acc1-H1 allele lacked sethoxydim tolerance but was tolerant to haloxyfop, whereas the Acc1-H2 allele had intermediate tolerance to sethoxydim but was tolerant to haloxyfop. Differences in tolerance to the two herbicides among mutants homozygous for different Acc1 alleles suggested that sites on ACCase that interact with the different herbicides do not completely overlap. These mutations in maize ACCase should prove useful in characterization of the regulatory role of ACCase in fatty acid biosynthesis and in development of herbicide-tolerant maize germplasm.

Atrazine Resistance in a Velvetleaf (Abutilon theophrasti) Biotype Due to Enhanced Glutathione S-Transferase Activity.

We previously reported that a velvetleaf (Abutilon theophrasti Medic) biotype found in Maryland was resistant to atrazine because of an enhanced capacity to detoxify the herbicide via glutathione conjugation (JW Gronwald, Andersen RN, Yee C [1989] Pestic Biochem Physiol 34: 149-163). The biochemical basis for the enhanced atrazine conjugation capacity in this biotype was examined. Glutathione levels and glutathione S-transferase activity were determined in extracts from the atrazine-resistant biotype and an atrazine-susceptible or "wild-type" velvetleaf biotype. In both biotypes, the highest concentration of glutathione (approximately 500 nanomoles per gram fresh weight) was found in leaf tissue. However, no significant differences were found in glutathione levels in roots, stems, or leaves of either biotype. In both biotypes, the highest concentration of glutathione S-transferase activity measured with 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene or atrazine as substrate was in leaf tissue. Glutathione S-transferase measured with 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene as substrate was 40 and 25% greater in leaf and stem tissue, respectively, of the susceptible biotype compared to the resistant biotype. In contrast, glutathione S-transferase activity measured with atrazine as substrate was 4.4- and 3.6-fold greater in leaf and stem tissue, respectively, of the resistant biotype. Kinetic analyses of glutathione S-transferase activity in leaf extracts from the resistant and susceptible biotypes were performed with the substrates glutathione, 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene, and atrazine. There was little or no change in apparent K(m) values for glutathione, atrazine, or 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene. However, the V(max) for glutathione and atrazine were approximately 3-fold higher in the resistant biotype than in the susceptible biotype. In contrast, the V(max) for 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene was 30% lower in the resistant biotype. Leaf glutathione S-transferase isozymes that exhibit activity with atrazine and 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene were separated by fast protein liquid (anion-exchange) chromatography. The susceptible biotype had three peaks exhibiting activity with atrazine and the resistant biotype had two. The two peaks of glutathione S-transferase activity with atrazine from the resistant biotype coeluted with two of the peaks from the susceptible biotype, but peak height was three- to fourfold greater in the resistant biotype. In both biotypes, two of the peaks that exhibit glutathione S-transferase activity with atrazine also exhibited activity with 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene, with the peak height being greater in the susceptible biotype. The results indicate that atrazine resistance in the velvetleaf biotype from Maryland is due to enhanced glutathione S-transferase activity for atrazine in leaf and stem tissue which results in an enhanced capacity to detoxify the herbicide via glutathione conjugation.

Dominant mutations causing alterations in acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase confer tolerance to cyclohexanedione and aryloxyphenoxypropionate herbicides in maize.

A partially dominant mutation exhibiting increased tolerance to cyclohexanedione and aryloxyphenoxypropionate herbicides was isolated by exposing susceptible maize (Zea mays) tissue cultures to increasingly inhibitory concentrations of sethoxydim (a cyclohexanedione). The selected tissue culture (S2) was greater than 40-fold more tolerant to sethoxydim and 20-fold more tolerant to haloxyfop (an aryloxyphenoxypropionate) than the nonselected wild-type tissue culture. Regenerated S2 plants were heterozygous for the mutant allele and exhibited a high-level, but not complete, tolerance to both herbicides. Homozygous mutant families derived by self-pollinating the regenerated S2 plants exhibited no injury after treatment with 0.8 kg of sethoxydim per ha, which was greater than 16-fold the rate lethal to wild-type plants. Acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase (ACCase; EC 6.4.1.2) is the target enzyme of cyclohexanedione and aryloxyphenoxypropionate herbicides. ACCase activities of the nonselected wild-type and homozygous mutant seedlings were similar in the absence of herbicide. ACCase activity from homozygous tolerant plants required greater than 100-fold more sethoxydim and 16-fold more haloxyfop for 50% inhibition than ACCase from wild-type plants. These results indicate that tolerance to sethoxydim and haloxyfop is controlled by a partially dominant nuclear mutation encoding a herbicide-insensitive alteration in maize ACCase.

In vitro hydroxylation of bentazon by microsomes from naphthalic anhydride-treated corn shoots.

In vitro metabolism of the herbicide bentazon was studied in microsomal membranes isolated from 6-day-old etiolated corn shoots. Microsomes isolated from shoots of nontreated seeds did not metabolize bentazon when assayed with NADPH or peroxides. However, microsomes isolated from shoots of seeds pretreated with naphthalic anhydride formed a single bentazon metabolite when provided with NADPH. The metabolite was identified as 6-hydroxybentazon, the major phase I metabolite produced in vivo. In vitro formation of this metabolite was strongly inhibited by carbon monoxide, nitrogen, and tetcyclacis (10 microM). The results suggest that aryl hydroxylation of bentazon in corn shoots is catalyzed by a cytochrome P-450 (E.C. 1.14.14.1) and that a seed pretreatment with naphthalic anhydride is necessary for recovery of activity in vitro.

Selection and characterization of sethoxydim- tolerant maize tissue cultures.

;Black Mexican Sweet' (BMS) maize (Zea mays L.) tissue cultures were selected for tolerance to sethoxydim. Sethoxydim, a cyclohexanedione, and haloxyfop, an aryloxyphenoxypropionate, exert herbicidal activity on most monocots including maize by inhibiting acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase (ACCase). Selected line B10S grew on medium containing 10 micromolar sethoxydim. Lines B50S and B100S were subsequent selections from B10S that grew on medium containing 50 and 100 micromolar sethoxydim, respectively. Growth rates of BMS, B10S, B50S, and B100S were similar in the absence of herbicide. Herbicide concentrations reducing growth by 50% were 0.6, 4.5, 35, and 26 micromolar sethoxydim and 0.06, 0.5, 5.4, and 1.8 micromolar haloxyfop for BMS, B10S, B50S, and B100S, respectively. Sethoxydim and haloxyfop concentrations that inhibited ACCase by 50% were similar for BMS, B10S, B50S, and B100S. However, ACCase activities were 6.01, 10.7, 16.1, and 11.4 nmol HCO(3) (-) incorporated per milligram of protein per minute in extracts of BMS, B10S, B50S, and B100S, respectively, suggesting that increased wild-type ACCase activity conferred herbicide tolerance. Incorporation of [(14)C]acetate into the nonpolar lipid fraction was higher for B50S than for BMS in the absence of sethoxydim providing further evidence for an increase in ACCase activity in the selected line. In the presence of 5 micromolar sethoxydim, [(14)C]acetate incorporation by B50S was similar to that for untreated BMS. The levels of a biotin-containing polypeptide (about 220,000 molecular weight), presumably the ACCase subunit, were increased in the tissue cultures that exhibited elevated ACCase activity indicating overproduction of the ACCase enzyme.

Induction of glutathione s-transferase isozymes in sorghum by herbicide antidotes.

Certain chemicals referred to as herbicide antidotes protect sorghum from injury by chloroacetanilide herbicides such as metolachlor. The effect of herbicide antidotes on the glutathione S-transferase isozyme complement of etiolated sorghum (Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench) shoots was examined. Elution profiles of glutathione S-transferase isozymes from untreated and antidote-treated seedlings were generated by fast protein liquid chromatography utilizing an anion exchange (Mono Q) column. In untreated seedlings, there were two glutathione S-transferase isozymes, a major isozyme which exhibited activity toward 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene and a minor isozyme which exhibited activity toward metolachlor. Treating sorghum seedlings with various antidotes (flurazole, oxabetrinil, CGA-133205, naphthalic anhydride, dichlormid) resulted in the appearance of four to five additional glutathione S-transferase isozymes (de-pending on the particular antidote) which exhibited activity toward metolachlor as a substrate and little or no activity with 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene. Treating etiolated sorghum shoots with metolachlor was also found to induce at least four isozymes which exhibited activity toward the herbicide. An increase in glutathione S-transferase activity, measured with metolachlor as substrate, was detected within 4 h after treatment with 30 micromolar oxabetrinil, but 36 hours were required for maximum expression of activity. Addition of either the transcription inhibitor cordycepin or the translation inhibitor cycloheximide inhibited the appearance of glutathione S-transferase activity measured with metolachlor as substrate. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that antidotes confer protection against metolachlor injury in sorghum by inducing the de novo synthesis of glutathione S-transferase isozymes which catalyze the detoxification of the herbicide.

Inhibition of plant acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase by the herbicides sethoxydim and haloxyfop.

Incorporation of [14C]acetate or [14C]pyruvate into fatty acids in isolated corn seedling chloroplasts was inhibited 90% or greater by 10 microM sethoxydim or 1 microM haloxyfop. At these concentrations, neither sethoxydim nor haloxyfop inhibited [14C]acetate incorporation into fatty acids in isolated pea chloroplasts. Sethoxydim (10 microM) and haloxyfop (1 microM) did not inhibit incorporation of [14C]malonyl-CoA into fatty acids in cell free extracts from corn tissue cultures. Acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase (EC 6.4.1.2) from corn seedling chloroplasts was inhibited by both sethoxydim and haloxyfop, with I50 values of 2.9 and 0.5 microM, respectively. This enzyme in pea was not inhibited by 10 microM sethoxydim or 1 microM haloxyfop.

Isolation and transport properties of protoplasts from cortical cells of corn roots.

A procedure was developed for the enzymic isolation of large quantities of protoplasts from the cortex of Zea mays L. WF9 x MO 17 roots. Cortex was separated from the primary root, sectioned, and the cell walls digested for 3.5 hours in 2% (w/v) Cellulysin, 0.1% Pectolyase Y-23, 1 millimolar CaCl(2), 0.05% bovine serum albumin, 0.5 millimolar dithiothreitol in 0.6 molar mannitol (pH 5.6). Cortical cell protoplasts were collected by centrifugation and purified by flotation in a Ficoll step gradient. The yield of protoplasts was approximately 650 x 10(3)/gram fresh tissue. To obtain maximum yield it was essential to include an effective pectinase (Pectolyase Y-23) and protectants (bovine serum albumin and dithiothreitol) in the digestion medium.Cortical cell protoplasts exhibited energy-dependent uptake of K(+) ((86)Rb), H(2) (32)PO(4) (-), and (36)Cl(-) as well as net H(+) extrusion. Ion fluxes were sustained for at least 3 hours. Influx of K(+) was highest between pH 7.5 and 8.0, whereas the influx of H(2)PO(4) (-) was greatest between pH 4.0 and 5.0. K(+) and H(2)PO(4) (-) influx and net H(+) efflux were inhibited by respiratory poisons such as cyanide (0.1 millimolar) and oligomycin (5 micrograms per milliliter), and by inhibitors of plasma membrane ATPase such as diethylstilbestrol (50 micromolar). Calculated flux for Cl(-) was low, but not greatly different from that observed for other plant cells. K(+) flux was somewhat high, probably because the K(+) concentration in the cortical cells was below steady-state. The results indicate that isolated cortical cell protoplasts retain transport properties which are similar to those of root tissue.