title: Role of the Plasma Membrane H+-ATPase in K+ Transport.
abstract: The role of the plant plasma membrane H+-ATPase in K+ uptake was examined using red beet (Beta vulgaris L.) plasma membrane vesicles and a partially purified preparation of the red beet plasma membrane H+-ATPase reconstituted in proteoliposomes and planar bilayers. For plasma membrane vesicles, ATP-dependent K+ efflux was only partially inhibited by 100 [mu]M vanadate or 10 [mu]M carbonyl cyanide-p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone. However, full inhibition of ATP-dependent K+ efflux by these reagents occurred when the red beet plasma membrane H+-ATPase was partially purified and reconstituted in proteoliposomes. When reconstituted in a planar bilayer membrane, the current/voltage relationship for the plasma membrane H+-ATPase showed little effect of K+ gradients imposed across the bilayer membrane. When taken together, the results of this study demonstrate that the plant plasma membrane H+-ATPase does not mediate direct K+ transport chemically linked to ATP hydrolysis. Rather, this enzyme provides a driving force for cellular K+ uptake by secondary mechanisms, such as K+ channels or H+/K+ symporters. Although the presence of a small, protonophore-insensitive component of ATP-dependent K+ transport in a plasma membrane fraction might be mediated by an ATP-activated K+ channel, the possibility of direct K+ transport by other ATPases (i.e. K+-ATPases) associated with either the plasma membrane or other cellular membranes cannot be ruled out.
authors.affiliation: Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801.
authors.forename: D. P.
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Briskin
authors.forename: M. C.
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Gawienowski