Comparison of plant cell turgor pressure measurement by pressure probe and micromanipulation.
The conventional method of measuring plant cell turgor pressure is the pressure probe but applying this method to single cells in suspension culture is technically difficult and requires puncture of the cell wall. Conversely, compression testing by micromanipulation is particularly suited to studies on single cells, and can be used to characterise cell wall mechanical properties, but has not been used to measure turgor pressure. In order to demonstrate that the micromanipulation method can do this, pressure measurements by both methods were compared on single suspension-cultured tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum vf36) cells and generally were in good agreement. This validates further the micromanipulation method and demonstrates its capability to measure turgor pressure during water loss. It also suggests that it might eventually be used to estimate plant cell hydraulic conductivity.
Wang
Lan
L
Institute of Biotechnology, Cambridge University, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1QT, UK.
Hukin
David
D
Pritchard
Jeremy
J
Thomas
Colin
C
D002478:Cells, Cultured / Q000502:physiology*; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000502:physiology*; D008846:Micromanipulation / Q000379:methods*; D009997:Osmotic Pressure; D011312:Pressure; D015203:Reproducibility of Results