Salt Tolerance and Sodium Transport in Freshwater and Salt Tolerant Charophyte Algae

在植物中，耐盐能力是一种多变而复杂的性状。耐盐性包括对渗透胁迫的反应能力和对单个离子毒性的抵抗能力。这些特征在确定植物的自然分布方面具有重要意义，在农业中也很重要，因为盐度可能限制生产力，特别是在灌溉土壤中。研究对象是与高等植物产生系密切相关的复杂的大型藻类——绿藻。这些藻类有很大的节间细胞，这使得实验操作在其他植物中是不可能的。两个密切相关的物种，专性淡水物种Chara corallina和可在淡水或盐水中培养的盐湖物种C. buckellii将进行研究。这两个物种在调节胀气的能力和对钠和镁的耐受性方面有所不同。Bisson博士将研究离子通量及其在完整细胞、具有渗透性质膜的细胞、内部内容物被灌注并被控制溶液取代的细胞、分离的膜囊泡和膜斑块中发生的机制。目的是阐明这种运动的机制，以及这种运动如何受到环境和细胞质因素的控制，从而产生对盐毒性的抗性

The ability to tolerate saline conditions is a variable and complex trait in plants. Salinity tolerance includes the ability to respond to osmotic stress and resistance to toxicity of individual ions. These traits are significant in determining the natural distribution of plants, and are important in agriculture, because salinity may limit productivity, especially in irrigated soils. The study will be done on Charophytes, complex macrophytic algae closely related to the line which gave rise to higher plants. These algae have large internodal cells, permitting experimental manipulations not possible in other plants. Two closely related species, Chara corallina, an obligate freshwater species, and C. buckellii, a species collected from a salt lake which can be cultured in fresh or salt water will be studied. The two species differ in their ability to regulate turgor and in their tolerance to sodium and magnesium. Dr. Bisson will study ion fluxes and the mechanism by which they occur in intact cells, cells with permeabilized plasmalemma, cells whose internal contents have been perfused away and replaced by controlled solutions, isolated vesicles of membrane, and patches of membrane. The aim is to elucidate the mechanism of movement and how this movement is controlled by environmental and cytoplasmic factors to confer resistance to salt toxicity.//