Abstract
Plants have many of the same electrochemical regulatory components as animals, such as sensory receptors, neurotransmitters, and voltage regulated ion channels. Prior studies have established that exogenous electrical fields could improve plant growth, agricultural yields, germination, secondary metabolite production, and disease resistance. Unfortunately, the potential benefits and mechanism of whole plant electrophysiology studies are difficult to organize into a cohesive model as they vary across organism, treatment type and method, or require elaborate/costly equipment. In many of these studies it is often difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish between electrical field-specific effects and the interference of unaddressed confounding variables such as changes in temperature, dissolved oxygen concentration, and pH. Plant electrophysiology is just beginning to be understood, and standardization and consistency are crucial if the systemic effects of this intriguing interdisciplinary phenomenon are to be grasped. Here we have developed a simple low-cost system from common lab supplies (largely electrophoresis equipment) which maintains temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen at relatively constant levels throughout the treatment time. The model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, was evaluated in this system and the subsequent effects on germination, growth, photopigments, and protein content are presented here. Our findings support the model that plants possess a molecular/electrical memory/battery which integrates information to drive biological responses.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams DS, Levin M (2013) Endogenous voltage gradients as mediators of cell-cell communication: strategies for investigating bioelectrical signals during pattern formation. Cell Tissue Res 352:95–122. doi:10.1007/s00441-012-1329-4
Bandyopadhyay S, Plascencia-Villa G, Mukherjee A, Rico CM, José-Yacamán M, Peralta-Videa JR, Gardea-Torresdey JL (2015) Comparative phytotoxicity of ZnO NPs, bulk ZnO, and ionic zinc onto the alfalfa plants symbiotically associated with Sinorhizobium meliloti in soil. Sci Total Environ 515–516:60–69
Bao S, Ma Z (2011) Research on the aging property of electric field influence on corn seeds. Adv Comput Sci Intell Syst Environ 106:91–96
Blackiston DJ, McLaughlin KA, Levin M (2009) Bioelectric controls of cell proliferation: ion channels, membrane voltage and the cell cycle. Cell Cycle Georget Tex 8:3519–3528. doi:10.4161/cc.8.21.9888
Boyes DC, Zayed AM, Ascenzi R, McCaskill AJ, Hoffman NE, Davis KR, Görlach J (2001) Growth stage-based phenotypic analysis of Arabidopsis: a model for high throughput functional genomics in plants. Plant Cell 13:1499–1510
Bugbee BG, Salisbury FB (1985) An evaluation of MES (2(N-Morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid) and amberlite IRC-50 as pH buffers for nutrient solution studies. J Plant Nutr 8:567–583
Cao J, Cole IB, Murch SJ (2006) Neurotransmitters, neuroregulators and neurotoxins in the life of plants. Can J Plant Sci 86:1183–1888. doi:10.4141/P06-034
Dymek K, Dejmek P, Panarese V et al (2012) Effect of pulsed electric field on the germination of barley seeds. LWT-Food Sci Technol 47:161–166. doi:10.1016/j.lwt.2011.12.019
Eing CJ, Bonnet S, Pacher M et al (2009) Effects of nanosecond pulsed electric field exposure on arabidopsis thaliana. IEEE Trans Dielectr Electr Insul 16:1322–1328. doi:10.1109/TDEI.2009.5293945
Ernst O, Zor T (2010) Linearization of the bradford protein assay. J Vis Exp. doi:10.3791/1918
Ewing MA, Robson AD (1991) The use of MES buffer in early nodulation studies with annual Medicago species. Plant Soil 131:199–206. doi:10.1007/BF00009449
Fromm J, Lautner S (2007) Electrical signals and their physiological significance in plants. Plant Cell Environ 30:249–257. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3040.2006.01614.x
Fromm J, Lautner S (2012) Generation, transmission, and physiological effects of electrical signals in plants. In: Volkov AG (ed) Plant electrophysiology. Springer, Berlin, pp 207–232
Gallé A, Lautner S, Flexas J, Fromm J (2015) Environmental stimuli and physiological responses: the current view on electrical signalling. Environ Exp Bot 114:15–21. doi:10.1016/j.envexpbot.2014.06.013
Geisler M, Wang B, Zhu J (2014) Auxin transport during root gravitropism: transporters and techniques. Plant Biol 16:50–57. doi:10.1111/plb.12030
Goto E, Both AJ, Albright LD et al (1996) Effect of dissolved oxygen concentration on lettuce growth in floating hydroponics. Acta Hortic 440:205–210
Hedrich R, Becker D (1994) Green circuits: the potential of plant specific ion channels. In: Palme K (ed) Signals and signal transduction pathways in plants. Springer, New York, pp 401–414
Hedrich R, Salvador-Recatal V, Dreyer I (2016) Electrical wiring and long-distance plant communication. Trends Plant Sci 21:376–387
Iwata S, Okumura T, Muramoto Y, Shimizu N (2011) Influence of AC electric field on plant growth. In: 2011 Annual report conference on electrical insulation and dielectric phenomena (CEIDP), pp 179–182
Kanwischer M (2005) Alterations in tocopherol cyclase activity in transgenic and mutant plants of Arabidopsis affect tocopherol content, tocopherol composition, and oxidative stress. Plant Physiol 137:713–723
Kaimoyo E, Farag MA, Sumner LW et al (2008) Sub-lethal levels of electric current elicit the biosynthesis of plant secondary metabolites. Biotechnol Prog 24:377–384. doi:10.1021/bp0703329
Köse C (2007) Effects of direct electric current on adventitious root formation of a grapevine rootstock. Am J Enol Vitic 58:120–123
Kurkdjian AC (1995) Role of the Differentiation Of Root Epidermal Cells In Nod Factor (from Rhizobium meliloti)-induced root-hair depolarization of Medicago sativa. Plant Physiol 107:783–790. doi:10.1104/pp.107.3.783
Levin M (2011) Endogenous bioelectric signals as morphogenetic controls of development, regeneration, and neoplasm. In: The physiology of bioelectricity in development, tissue regeneration and cancer, chap 3, pp 39–89
Mishra (2016) Bio molecular characterization of impact of weak electric field on the plant system. Indian J Sci Res 6:25–29
Moon J-D, Chung H-S (2000) Acceleration of germination of tomato seed by applying AC electric and magnetic fields. J Electrost 48:103–114. doi:10.1016/S0304-3886(99)00054-6
Nechitailo G, Gordeev A (2001) Effect of artificial electric fields on plants grown under microgravity conditions. Adv Space Res 28:629–631. doi:10.1016/S0273-1177(01)00370-2
Okumura T, Iwata S, Muramoto Y, Shimizu N (2011) Optimum DC electric field strength for growth acceleration of thale cress. In: 2011 Annual report conference on electrical insulation and dielectric phenomena (CEIDP). IEEE, pp 168–171
Porra RJ (2002) The chequered history of the development and use of simultaneous equations for the accurate determination of chlorophylls a and b. Photosynth Res 73:149–156
Sagane Y, Nakagawa T, Yamamoto K et al (2005) Molecular characterization of maize acetylcholinesterase: a novel enzyme family in the plant kingdom. Plant Physiol 138:1359–1371. doi:10.1104/pp.105.062927
Stenz HG, Weisenseel MH (1993) Electrotropism of Maize (Zea mays L.) Roots (Facts and Artifacts). Plant Physiol 101:1107–1111
Tataranni G, Sofo A, Casucci C, Scopa A (2013) Different root growth patterns of tomato seedlings grown hydroponically under an electric field. Plant Root 7:28–32. doi:10.3117/plantroot.7.28
Volkov AG (ed) (2012) Plant electrophysiology. Springer, Berlin
Volkov AG (2016) Biosensors, memristors and actuators in electrical networks of plants. Int J Parallel Emergent Distrib Syst. doi:10.1080/17445760.2016.1141209
Volkov AG, Shtessel YB (2016) Propagation of electrotonic potentials in plants: experimental study and mathematical modeling. AIMS Biophys 3:358–379
Volkov AG, Adesina T, Markin VS, Jovanov E (2008) Kinetics and mechanism of dionaea muscipula trap closing. Plant Physiol 146:694–702. doi:10.1104/pp.107.108241
Volkov AG, Foster JC, Ashby TA et al (2010) Mimosa pudica: electrical and mechanical stimulation of plant movements. Plant Cell Environ 33:163–173. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3040.2009.02066.x
Wawrecki W, Zagórska-Marek B (2007) Influence of a weak DC electric field on root meristem architecture. Ann Bot 100:791–796. doi:10.1093/aob/mcm164
Weigand M, Kemna A (2017) Multi-frequency electrical impedance tomography as a non-invasive tool to characterize and monitor crop root systems. Biogeosciences 14:921–939. doi:10.5194/bg-14-921-2017
Weigel D, Glazebrook J (2002) Arabidopsis: a laboratory manual. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor
Wellburn AR (1994) The spectral determination of chlorophylls a and b, as well as total carotenoids, using various solvents with spectrophotometers of different resolution. J Plant Physiol 144:307–313. doi:10.1016/S0176-1617(11)81192-2
Wessler I, Kirkpatrick C (2016) Detection of non-neuronal acetylcholine. In: Myslivecek J, Jakubik J (eds) Muscarinic receptor: from structure to animal models. Springer, New York, pp 205–220
Ye H, Huang L-L, Chen S-D, Zhong J-J (2004) Pulsed electric field stimulates plant secondary metabolism in suspension cultures of Taxus chinensis. Biotechnol Bioeng 88:788–795. doi:10.1002/bit.20266
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Haire, T., Patel, D., Patel, K. et al. Regulation of Arabidopsis thaliana Physiological Responses Through Exogenous Electrical Field Exposures with Common Lab Equipment. J Plant Growth Regul 37, 278–285 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-017-9725-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-017-9725-3