SeparatingGrowthfromElasticDeformationduringCell.PDFVIP

Plant Physiology, February 1999, Vol. 119, pp. 775–784, © 1999 American Society of Plant Physiologists Separating Growth from Elastic Deformation during Cell Enlargement1 Timothy E. Proseus, Joseph K.E. Ortega, and John S. Boyer* College of Marine Studies, University of Delaware, Lewes, Delaware 19958 (T.E.P., J.S.B.); and Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado, Denver, Colorado 80224 (J.K.E.O.) Cleland, 1958, 1959; Brouwer, 1963; Ray and Ruesink, 1963; Plants change size by deforming reversibly (elastically) whenever Burstro¨m et al., 1967; Hohl and Schopfer, 1992). Other turgor pressure changes, and by growing. The elastic deformation is efforts involved stretching isolated cell walls or dead or independent of growth because it occurs in nongrowing cells. Its live tissues in an external apparatus (Probine and Preston, occurrence with growth has prevented growth from being observed 1962; Cleland, 1967; Lockhart, 1967; Haughton and Sellen, alone. We investigated whether the two processes could be sepa- 1969; Yamamoto et al., 1970; Fujihara et al., 1978; Kutschera rated in internode cells of Chara corallina Klien ex Willd., em and Briggs, 1988; Nonami and Boyer, 1990a). Typically, the R.D.W. by injecting or removing cell solution with a pressure probe residual enlargement after subtracting the elastic compo- to change turgor while the cell length was continuously measured. nent was considered to be the growth of the plant material. Cell size changed immediately when turgor changed, and growth rates appeared to be altered. Low temperature eliminated growt