Electrochemistry of soybean: effects of uncouplers, pollutants, and pesticides

Action potentials in higher plants are the information carriers in intercellular and intracellular communication in the presence of environment changes. Action potentials take an active part in the expedient character of response reactions of plants as a response to external effects. Action potentials in soybean (Glycine max (L) Merrill) can be as fast as the action potentials in axons of nervous cells. In the present work we show that protonophores FCCP, pentachlorophenol and 2,4-dinitrophenol induce fast action potentials and decrease the variation potential to zero in a soybean. The speed of the propagation of action potentials in a soybean induced by uncouplers is up to 40 m s(-1). (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.