Plant Physiology - Musienko M. M. 2001

General principles of regulation of plant growth and morphogenesis
Electrophysiological regulation

Irritability is one of the most Fundamental properties of living systems, underlying a wide range of movements and other manifestations of plant activity. Unlike animals, plants lack a Nervous system; consequently, the capacity for excitation is inherent to all their structural elements. Bioelectric potentials serve as an integral indicator of plant irritability. In recent years, it has been established that under certain conditions, all plants are capable of generating action potentials (APs). Therefore, electrophysiological interactions between Cells, Tissues, and Organs also play a crucial role in coordinating functional activity and governing morphogenesis. As it turns out, electrotonic fields and currents exist among them. In other words, stationary, slowly varying potential differences, as well as action potentials, exist between different PARTS OF THE plant Organism. These types of electrical activity constitute electrophysiological regulation. Alterations in ion fluxes triggered by various factors lead to the generation of new Membrane Potential values. It is hypothesized that under METABOLISM/18.html">The Influence of electrotonic fields, charged lipoprotein complexes—which perform a variety of Functions—undergo lateral displacement within Cell membranes.

Thus, Changes in the microstructure of electrical fields within tissues can result in the redistribution of mobile protein components within the membranes, thereby determining a new physiological state of The Cell.

It should be noted that excitable cells have The ability to decrease the membrane potential (MP) to a critical level, after which the MP can return to a value close to its initial state. This gives rise to a propagating Action Potential (AP). W. J. V. Osterhout was the first to discover this phenomenon in characean Algae in the 1930s, and it was later recorded in the Venus flytrap (25 cm/s) and sensitive plant (*Mimosa*, 4 cm/s). In most plants, it propagates at a velocity of 0.08–0.5 cm/s. The AP travels along the Plasmalemma and plasmodesmata of phloem parenchyma cells and along the protoxylem of vascular bundles.

Consequently, plants possess a rapid electrical signaling system, although the volume of information it transmits is relatively small. An example of this is pollen germination on a corn stigma, which generates an AP that travels to the Ovary. An environmental change in the ROOT zone produces a single impulse that, upon reaching a leaf, alters its functions. Mechanical or environmental stimulation of the SHOOT apex triggers an AP that accelerates the uptake of mineral ions.