Volkov Alexander G, Tucket Clayton, Reedus Jada, Volkova Maya I, Markin Vladislav S, Chua Leon
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Oakwood University; Huntsville, AL USA.
Department of Neurology; University of Texas; Southwestern Medical Center; Dallas, TX USA.
Plant Signal Behav. 2014;9(3):e28152. doi: 10.4161/psb.28152. Epub 2014 Feb 20.
We investigated electrical circuitry of the Venus flytrap, Mimosa pudica and Aloe vera. The goal was to discover if these plants might have a new electrical component--a resistor with memory. This element was postulated recently and the researchers were looking for its presence in different systems. The analysis was based on cyclic current-voltage characteristic where the resistor with memory should manifest itself. We found that the electrostimulation of plants by bipolar sinusoidal or triangle periodic waves induces electrical responses in the Venus flytrap, Mimosa pudica and Aloe vera with fingerprints of memristors. Tetraethylammonium chloride, an inhibitor of voltage gated K(+) channels, transforms a memristor to a resistor in plant tissue. Our results demonstrate that a voltage gated K(+) channel in the excitable tissue of plants has properties of a memristor. This study can be a starting point for understanding mechanisms of memory, learning, circadian rhythms, and biological clocks.
我们研究了捕蝇草、含羞草和芦荟的电路。目的是发现这些植物是否可能有一个新的电学元件——一个具有记忆功能的电阻器。这个元件是最近被提出的，研究人员正在不同系统中寻找它的存在。分析基于循环电流-电压特性，其中具有记忆功能的电阻器应该会显现出来。我们发现，通过双极正弦或三角周期波对植物进行电刺激会在捕蝇草、含羞草和芦荟中诱发具有忆阻器特征的电响应。氯化四乙铵，一种电压门控钾（K(+)）通道抑制剂，会将植物组织中的忆阻器转变为电阻器。我们的结果表明，植物可兴奋组织中的电压门控钾（K(+)）通道具有忆阻器的特性。这项研究可以作为理解记忆、学习、昼夜节律和生物钟机制的起点。
