Abstract
Lund has shown that bioelectric potentials are quantitatively linked with oxidations (frog skin, hydroids, etc.) and has advanced the theory that continuous bioelectric currents are established by redox systems in flux equilibrium within the cell. 1 The new findings have a significant bearing on (1) the nature of the electrochemical mechanism which generates a continuous output of electric energy in living cells, (2) the nature of the specific differences in the oxidative metabolism of young and old tissues, and (3) the role of electric energy in cell division, cell correlation, growth, and the absorption of water and solutes.
The curve in Figure 1 shows the typical distribution of E.M.F. per unit length of root in the onion (Allium cepa), in the uninjured un-stimulated condition. The region of active cell division, p, maintains a high positive potential with respect to all other regions. Ordinarily, at a distance 5 to 12 millimeters from the extreme tip, there is a region of relatively low positivity followed by a region of increased positivity. Fluctuations in electric polarity, which are not due to any observable change in the environment, occur, and the distribution of E.M.F. varies from time to time.
The major facts which show that the magnitude and orientation of bioelectric currents in the onion root depend uniquely upon the concentration of oxygen and therefore upon the respiratory mechanism of the cell are as follows:
1. When electrodes using the native medium for contact, are placed at the positions X and Y then: (a) Removal of oxygen around the zone of active cell division, p, greatly decreases the E.M.F. of the root between X and Y. This decrease frequently inverts the electric polarity and in all experiments the potential remains at a relatively low level. Removal of oxygen around the zone of cell maturation and elongation, m, also produces a definite but less marked decrease in E.M.F. of the region X-Y.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.