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. 1969 Jun;44(6):839–844. doi: 10.1104/pp.44.6.839

The Osmotic Behavior of Corn Mitochondria 1

George H Lorimer a,2, Raymond J Miller a
PMCID: PMC396173  PMID: 16657139

Abstract

The volume changes undergone by corn (Zea mays L.) mitochondria suspended in solutions of constant or varying osmolarity were studied. Within the range of osmotic pressure from 1.8 to 8.4 atmospheres, corn mitochondria behave as osmometers, if allowance is made for an osmotic “dead space” of about 6.9 μl/mg protein. The final equilibrium volume of mitochondria swollen in solutions containing both ribose and sucrose were shown to depend upon the concentration of impermeable solute (sucrose) present and not upon the concentration of ribose present. Osmotic reversibility was found for mitochondria swollen in isotonic solutions of KCI or ribose. The passive swelling of corn mitochondria may be due to the osmotic flow of water coupled to the diffusion of a permeable solute.

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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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