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Functional Plant Biology Functional Plant Biology Society
Plant function and evolutionary biology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Glutamate and NMDA affect cell excitability and action potential dynamics of single cell of macrophyte Nitellopsis obtusa

Indre Lapeikaite https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7323-1721 A B , Vilmantas Pupkis A , Vladas Neniskis A , Osvaldas Ruksenas A and Vilma Kisnieriene A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Institute of Biosciences, Life Sciences Centre, Vilnius University, Sauletekio Avenue. 7, LT-10257 Vilnius, Lithuania.

B Corresponding author. Email: pinivija@gmail.com

Functional Plant Biology 47(12) 1032-1040 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP20074
Submitted: 19 March 2020  Accepted: 11 May 2020   Published: 23 June 2020

Abstract

The effect of glutamate and N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) on electrical signalling – action potentials (AP) and excitation current transients – was studied in intact macrophyte Nitellopsis obtusa (Characeaen) internodal cell. Intracellular glass electrode recordings of single cell in current clamp and two-electrode voltage clamp modes indicate that glutamate (Glu, 0.1–1.0 mM) and NMDA (0.01–1.0 mM) increase electrically induced AP amplitude by hyperpolarising excitation threshold potential (Eth) and prolong AP fast repolarisation phase. Amplitude of Cl current transient, as well as its activation and inactivation durations were also increased. Both Glu and NMDA act in a dose-dependent manner. The effect of NMDA exceeds that of Glu. Ionotropic glutamate receptor inhibitors AP-5 (NMDA-type receptors) and DNQX (AMPA/Kainate-type) have no effect on Nitellopsis cell electrical signalling per se, yet robustly inhibit excitatory effect of NMDA. This study reinforces NMDA as an active component in glutamatergic signalling at least in some plants and stresses the elaborate fine-tuning of electrical signalling.

Additional keywords: amino acids, Characeaen, electrophysiology, voltage-clamp.


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