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. 1980 Nov;77(11):6386–6390. doi: 10.1073/pnas.77.11.6386

Sodium-dependent silicate transport in the apochlorotic marine diatom Nitzschia alba

Pinakilal Bhattacharyya 1, Benjamin E Volcani 1,*
PMCID: PMC350289  PMID: 16592914

Abstract

Silicate uptake by Nitzschia alba cells is higher in medium containing Na+ than in media lacking Na+ but containing K+, Rb+, NH4+, Li+, or choline+. The initial rate is inhibited by monensin and gramicidin but not by valinomycin or nigericin and is less sensitive to inhibition by carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP). In isolated membrane vesicles, silicate is taken up when a Na+ gradient is imposed across the membrane or is generated by cytoplasmic Na+,K+-ATPase. H+ or K+ gradients in either direction do not stimulate uptake. Na+-gradient-dependent uptake is inhibited by monensin but not by CCCP, valinomycin, or vanadate, which inhibits the cytoplasmic Na+,K+-ATPase. Uptake increases if an internally negative potential is imposed across the membrane. The vesicular uptake shows saturation kinetics with a Km of 62 μM and a Vmax of 4.1 nmol/mg of protein per min. In intact cells, the initial rate of silicate uptake increases with pH up to 9.5. Thus, in N. alba, silicate is symported with Na+, and the transport system is driven by the Na+ gradient that is generated and maintained across the membrane by the activity of Na+,K+-ATPase.

Keywords: Na+ gradient; Na+,K+-ATPase; membrane vesicles

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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