Electron Spin Resonance Studies of Ionic Permeability Properties of Thylakoid Membranes of Beta vulgaris and Avicennia germinans.

Measurement of intrathylakoid aqueous volumes by electron spin resonance spectroscopy was used to study ionic permeability properties of thylakoid membranes isolated from Beta vulgaris L. and Avicennia germinans L. The thylakoids behaved as perfect osmometers in the presence of sorbitol and betaine. Thylakoids exposed to hypertonic solutions of NaCl and KCl shrank and subsequently swelled, requiring 10 minutes to regain their original volume. The initial influx rate calculated from the kinetics of changes in intrathylakoid volume in response to 450 millimolar gradients of NaCl and KCl was 2.3 x 10(-13) moles per square centimeter per second. These data show that the passive permeability to NaCl and KCl was low.