Abstract
Cell membrane prevents the entrance of extra molecules (e.g., transcription and translation inhibitors) into the cell. For studying the physiological effects of transcription and translation inhibitors on Hymenophyllum caudiculatum fronds, we incubate fronds with 0.1% DMSO to test if this increases cell membrane permeability relative to incubation with ultrapure water. The study showed that DMSO could significantly improve the cell membrane permeability of filmy fronds.
Keywords: Filmy ferns, Membrane permeability, DMSO, Propidium iodide
Background
One of the most remarkable characteristics of filmy ferns is that the frond, apart from the vascular tissue, is made of a single cell layer and lacks stomata. In our previous work (Garcés et al. 2018), we incubated Hymenophyllum caudiculatum fronds with cycloheximide or actinomycin D to study the effects of translation, or transcription inhibition respectively. If an exogen inhibitor incubated with a filmy fern frond does not affect plant physiology, it may be because the inhibitor fails to enter the cell. In order to improve the entrance of inhibitors into the cell, we tested if an aqueous solution of 0.1% DMSO has effects on cell membrane permeability, visualizing the entrance of propidium iodide (PI) into the cells.
Materials and Reagents
Equipment
Software
Procedure
Data analysis
Three samples were analyzed and representative results are shown in Figure 1. After 30 min of incubation with 0.1% DMSO, PI fluorescence starts being visible inside the cells and reaches the maximum after 5 h. In contrast, PI fluorescence was almost invisible after 5 h incubation of PI with ultrapure water.
Recipes
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by grant #11130717 from FONDECYT.
Competing interests
The author declares no conflicts of interest or competing interests.
References
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