Russian Journal of Plant Physiology, Vol. 52, No. 3, 2005, pp. 326–331. Translated from Fiziologiya Rastenii, Vol. 52, No. 3, 2005, pp. 372–377. Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Velikanov, Volobueva, Belova, Gaponenko. Vacuolar Symplast as a Regulated Pathway for Water Flows in Plants G. A. Velikanov, O. V. Volobueva, L. P. Belova, and E. M. Gaponenko Kazan Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Kazan Research Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, a/ya 30, ul. Lobachevskogo 2/31, Kazan, Tatarstan, 420111 Russia; fax: 7 (8432) 38-7577; e-mail:
[email protected] Received August 6, 2004 Abstract—Indirect immunofluorescent microscopy and a tonoplast-specific marker enzyme were used to dem- onstrate the occurrence of pyrophosphatase within the plasmodesmata in the elongation zone of maize root seg- ments. The pulsed field gradient NMR method (PFG NMR) was applied to study restricted self-diffusion of water molecules in the root segments under normal conditions and after the inhibition of respiration with sodium azide (10 mM NaN3, 30 min). The results led to the conclusion that vacuoles in the root segments exam- ined are interconnected into a unified intercellular continuum and that intervacuolar connections are formed by desmotubules within the plasmodesmata. The water permeability of the vacuolar symplast appears to be con- trolled by an ATP-dependent process. The experimental data can provide a methodological approach to study- ing water permeability of the vacuolar symplast with the PFG NMR technique. Key words: Zea mays - roots - plasmodesmata - desmotubules - vacuolar symplast - NMR INTRODUCTION spaces into a supracellular continuum. This means that vacuoles of neighboring cells are also interconnected.