Transport of glucose, fructose and sucrose by Streptanthus tortuosus suspension cells : II. Uptake at high sugar concentration.

In the concentration range above 1 mM a linear diffusion-like component of sugar uptake by Streptanthus suspension cells is observed. The rate of permeation is the same for sucrose, glucose, fructose and sorbitol, despite the very different uptake features of these sugars at low concentrations, where sorbitol and sucrose are not taken up at all and where different affinities for glucose and fructose are seen. The linear uptake component is responsible for 80% of sugar uptake at 100 mM, and it is an efficient permeation path for sucrose and fructose, which show poor permeation compared to glucose in the low concentration range. The mechanistic nature of the linear uptake component remains obscure: it is not directly dependent on metabolic energy (uncoupler does not inhibit it) and it is neither saturable up to 100 mM nor is it sugar-specific, but it is changeable, for instance, by plasmolysis or by protoplast generation. The permeation rates are very similar to those found in other plants for the linear component, but are much higher than in artificial membranes. These features are neither fully compatible with diffusion through a lipid phase nor with catalysed transport, and it is therefore suggested that this linear uptake proceeds through hydrophilic domains of the membrane. The linear uptake component will have consequences for apoplastic sugar concentration, sugar-accumulation factors and cell metabolism.