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Source of Sustained Voltage Difference between the Xylem of a Potted Ficus benjamina Tree and Its Soil
It has long been known that there is a sustained electrical potential (voltage) difference between the xylem of many plants and their surrounding soil, but the mechanism behind this voltage has remained controversial. After eliminating any extraneous capacitive or inductive couplings and ground-medi...
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Formato: | Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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Public Library of Science
2008
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2493036/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18698415 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0002963 |
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author | Love, Christopher J. Zhang, Shuguang Mershin, Andreas |
author_facet | Love, Christopher J. Zhang, Shuguang Mershin, Andreas |
author_sort | Love, Christopher J. |
collection | PubMed |
description | It has long been known that there is a sustained electrical potential (voltage) difference between the xylem of many plants and their surrounding soil, but the mechanism behind this voltage has remained controversial. After eliminating any extraneous capacitive or inductive couplings and ground-mediated electric current flows, we have measured sustained differences of 50–200 mV between the xylem region of a Faraday-caged, intact, potted Ficus benjamina tree and its soil, as well as between its cut branches and soils and ionic solutions standardized to various pH values. Using identical platinum electrodes, no correlation between the voltage and time of day, illumination, sap flow, electrode elevation, or ionic composition of soil was found, suggesting no direct connection to simple dissimilar-metal redox reactions or transpirational activity. Instead, a clear relationship between the voltage polarity and magnitude and the pH difference between xylem and soil was observed. We attribute these sustained voltages to a biological concentration cell likely set up by the homeostatic mechanisms of the tree. Potential applications of this finding are briefly explored. |
format | Text |
id | pubmed-2493036 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2008 |
publisher | Public Library of Science |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-24930362008-08-13 Source of Sustained Voltage Difference between the Xylem of a Potted Ficus benjamina Tree and Its Soil Love, Christopher J. Zhang, Shuguang Mershin, Andreas PLoS One Research Article It has long been known that there is a sustained electrical potential (voltage) difference between the xylem of many plants and their surrounding soil, but the mechanism behind this voltage has remained controversial. After eliminating any extraneous capacitive or inductive couplings and ground-mediated electric current flows, we have measured sustained differences of 50–200 mV between the xylem region of a Faraday-caged, intact, potted Ficus benjamina tree and its soil, as well as between its cut branches and soils and ionic solutions standardized to various pH values. Using identical platinum electrodes, no correlation between the voltage and time of day, illumination, sap flow, electrode elevation, or ionic composition of soil was found, suggesting no direct connection to simple dissimilar-metal redox reactions or transpirational activity. Instead, a clear relationship between the voltage polarity and magnitude and the pH difference between xylem and soil was observed. We attribute these sustained voltages to a biological concentration cell likely set up by the homeostatic mechanisms of the tree. Potential applications of this finding are briefly explored. Public Library of Science 2008-08-13 /pmc/articles/PMC2493036/ /pubmed/18698415 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0002963 Text en Love et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited. |
spellingShingle | Research Article Love, Christopher J. Zhang, Shuguang Mershin, Andreas Source of Sustained Voltage Difference between the Xylem of a Potted Ficus benjamina Tree and Its Soil |
title | Source of Sustained Voltage Difference between the Xylem of a Potted Ficus benjamina Tree and Its Soil |
title_full | Source of Sustained Voltage Difference between the Xylem of a Potted Ficus benjamina Tree and Its Soil |
title_fullStr | Source of Sustained Voltage Difference between the Xylem of a Potted Ficus benjamina Tree and Its Soil |
title_full_unstemmed | Source of Sustained Voltage Difference between the Xylem of a Potted Ficus benjamina Tree and Its Soil |
title_short | Source of Sustained Voltage Difference between the Xylem of a Potted Ficus benjamina Tree and Its Soil |
title_sort | source of sustained voltage difference between the xylem of a potted ficus benjamina tree and its soil |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2493036/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18698415 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0002963 |
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