Abstract
A reanalysis of the published thermodynamic transport coefficients has led to the conclusion that the contribution of Nitella cell walls to the electroosmotic efficiency of the wall – membrane complex in living Nitella cells has been incorrectly estimated. When the e-o efficiency observed in the living Nitella cell is less than 100 moles Faraday−1 the observed value is an overestimate if attributed to the membrane alone; when the e-o efficiency observed is over 100 moles Faraday−1 the value is an underestimate of the e-o in the membrane. A more detailed analysis of the salt concentration dependence of LPE (the electrokinetic coefficient) and of LPE2/LEELPP (the relative thermodynamic efficiency of electroosmosis) is given. It is found that LPE2/LEELPP reaches a peak efficiency (about 0.6) at about the saline concentration of pond water and xylem sap. It is concluded that the suggestion of Briggs that the electroosmosis observed in living Nitella cells may be a property of the cell wall alone is unlikely to be true.
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