Initial events in the tip-swelling response of the filamentous gametophyte of Onoclea sensibilis L. to blue light.

Several inhibitors were applied to filamentous gametophytes of the fern Onoclea sensibilis in the attempt to characterize how electrical phenomena might be involved in the tip-swelling response to blue light (BL). The membrane potential of the apical cell in the typical fern filament rests near-120 mV in darkness, but irradiation with blue light causes the membrane to hyperpolarize at a steady rate of 2.6 mV min(-1) until it reaches a new stable value between-130 and-135 mV. In darkness, 10(-4)M salicylhydroxamic acid (SHAM), an inhibitor of BL-mediated absorbance changes in putative plasma-membrane fractions from maize coleoptiles, has no observable effects on the membrane potential or on filamentous growth. A SHAM pretreatment before BL irradiation causes approx. 70% inhibition of the membrane hyperpolarization as well as a comparable reduction in the growth response; however, SHAM has no effect in experiments where its application follows the onset of the electrical response. Exposing the filaments to 10(-5)M Na3VO4, an inhibitor of the plasma-membrane ATPase, depresses the membrane potential in darkness. Depending on the timing of application, Na3VO4 prevents the initiation of or blocks further increases in the BL-mediated hyperpolarization. Application of Na3VO4 causes an immediate cessation of growth in both darkness and BL. These findings implicate the involvement of a plasmalemma-bound flavin-cytochrome complex and ATP-driven proton pump in the initial events of this growth response to blue light.