Electric charge controls plasmodesma conductivity

Abstract

While plant cells are enclosed by rigid cell walls that counteract intracellular hydrostatic pressure1, their plasma membrane, cytosol, and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) remain connected through plasmodesmata, nanoscopic cell wall pores2. Plasmodesmal cell-to-cell transport occurs in the cytosolic sleeve between the plasma membrane and the ER membrane3-5, and is generally thought to be limited by the size of the moving particle alone6. Given that biological membranes carry negative electric surface charges7-9, this steric notion conflicts with physical theory of ion diffusion in nanometer-sized pores with charged walls10. Quantifying the movements of differently sized and charged fluorescent dyes in Tradescantia stamen hairs, we found that anionic fluorophores of up to 1 kDa traversed plasmodesmata whereas much smaller cationic ones did not. While this agrees with theoretical expectations of different size exclusion limits for cations and anions, it questions current dogma concerning plasmodesma function and also structure, as it implies positively rather than negatively charged surfaces within plasmodesmal pores. Our findings call for re-evaluations of current models of symplasmic transport, especially of charged molecules like the phytohormone auxin (indole-acetic acid) and certain amino acids.