Stability of plant vacuolar membranes under the conditions of osmotic stress and influence of redox agents

Stability of plant vacuolar membranes (tonoplast), which underwent two types of osmotic stress and also the effect of redox agents (glutathione in its oxidized (GSSG) and reduced (GSH) forms) and nitric oxide (NO) under various pH values, has been investigated. The fatty-acid content of tonoplast has also been determined. It has been shown that stability of vacuoles decreased under hyperosmotic stress but not under hypoosmotic stress. These effects are unlikely caused by the fatty-acid content of vacuolar membranes. Stability of vacuoles changed under various redox conditions; this process was more intensive under the conditions of hypoosmotic stress in the experiments with oxidized glutathione. The influence of nitrogen oxide was different for various kinds of stress: stability of vacuoles decreased substantially under hypoosmotic stress, while under the conditions of hyperosmotic stress NO elevated the stability level of the vacuolar membranes. © 2011 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.