Abstract: | Photosynthetic 14C fixation by Characean cells in solutionsof high pH containing NaH14CO3 gave a measure of the abilityof these cells to take up bicarbonate (H14CO3). Whereascells of Nitella translucens from plants collected and thenstored in the laboratory absorbed bicarbonate at 11.5µµmoles cm2 sec1, rates of 38µµmoles cm2 sec1 were obtained withN. translucens cells from plants grown in the laboratory. Influxesof 56 µµmoles cm2 sec1 wereobtained with Chara australis, 38 µµmolescm2 sec1 with Nitellopsis obtusa, and 15µµmoles cm2 sec1 with Tolypella intricata.It is considered that these influxes represent the activityof a bicarbonate pump, which may be an electrogenic process. In solutions of lower pH, H14CO3 uptake would be maskedby rapid diffusion of 14CO2 into the cells: the four Characeanspecies fixed 14CO2 at maximum rates of 3040 µµmolescm2 sec1 (at 21° C). |