An experimental approach to pH measurement in the intercellular free space of higher plant tissues

Summary An experimental approach to the measurement of pH in the free space of plant tissues was made, using both metal minielectrodes and H⁺-sensitive resin glass microelectrodes inserted in small environments artificially created inside the tissue. Experiments were carried out on the parenchyma of higher plants (corn, potato, squash,Senecio herraianus), monitoring pH changes in the free space as a function of the pH of the external medium. The pH in the free space has been found to be different from that of the surrounding solution and its variation in time much slower than would be predicted by assuming that simple diffusion of H⁺ ions took place. The results agree with the hypothesis that the free space behaves as a compartment distinct from both the cytosol and the surrounding medium.