Abstract
Carrot protoplasts were used to study the mechanism of poly(ethylene glycol)-induced fusion in vivo. In contrast to human erythrocytes, plant protoplasts can be induced to undergo massive fusions by adding recrystallized PEG 6000. ESR spectra of 5-doxylstearic acid (5DS)-labeled protoplasts indicate that PEG 6000 ( > 20% w/v ) causes a decrease in membrane fluidity and the appearance of a fluid signal indicating isotropic motion of the fatty acid spin label. The same ESR spectra are obtained if spin-labeled protoplasts are pretreated with glutaraldehyde. The 3-carboxyl-2,2,5,5-tetramethylpyrroline-1-oxyl derivative of poly(ethylene glycol) does not appear to intercalate into the hydrophobic region of the lipid bilayer, however, the apparent extraction of the 5DS-label from the protoplast membrane indicates that poly(ethylene glycol) can interact with membrane lipids.
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