PROTOPLASMIC POTENTIALS IN HALICYSTIS

Abstract

Perfusion of the vacuole of living cells of Halicystis is described, the method employing two longitudinally fused capillaries as entrance and exit tubes. Natural sap, artificial sap, and sea water have been successfully perfused, with various additions and deficiencies, within the limits of physiological balance. In H. ovalis the P.D. remains positive and scarcely reduced in value when normal sea water, at pH 8.1, is perfused in the vacuole. In H. Osterhoutii the P.D. reverses in sign when the perfused solution has a higher pH than 6.5. In both cases a large P.D. persists when the solutions are the same on both sides of the protoplasm. In the absence of external gradients, there must be some internal gradient or asymmetry of the protoplasm itself to account for the P.D. Since appreciable currents are produced, there must be some metabolic activity as a source of energy. The higher normal P.D. in H. ovalis is not due to the higher KCl content of its sap (as earlier suggested by the author) since it persists nearly unchanged when sea water is substituted for sap.