Water permeability of periderm membranes isolated enzymatically from potato tubers (Solanum tuberosum L.).

The fine structure and water permeability of potato tuber periderm have been studied. Periderm membranes (PM) were isolated enzymatically using pectinase and cellulase. They were composed of, about six layers of phellem cells arranged in radial rows. The walls of phellem cells consist of cellulosic primary and tertiary walls and suberized secondary walls which are lamellated. Middle lamellae and primary walls contain lignin. Since the PM did not disintegrate during enzymatic isolation it appears that lignin also extends into the secondary suberized walls. The water permeability of PM was low, ranging from 1-3·10(-10) m s(-1). This low water permeability developed only during storage of tubers in air. Periderm membranes from freshly harvested tubers had a relatively high permeability. The low permeability of PM from stored tubers is attributed to soluble lipids associated with suberin since: (1) extraction of soluble lipids from PM increased permeability by more than 100-fold, (2) a phase transition of soluble lipids was observed between 46 and 51° C, and (3) only the permeability of PM decreased during storage while the permeability of extracted PM remained unchanged. Evidence is presented that two pathways for water movement exist in parallel. Pathway 1 is represented by middle lamellae and primary walls extending in radial direction across the membranes. This pathway has a relatively high specific permeability. Pathway 2 is represented by a polylaminated structure made up of tangential walls of phellem cells which are orientated normal to the direction of water flow. This pathway has a low specific permeability because of the properties of secondary walls incrusted with soluble lipids. It is calculated that about 10% of the water flows across pathway 1 and 90% across pathway 2 which has a volume fraction of 0.995.