Mechanosensitive ion channels in the plasma membrane of Vicia faba guard cell protoplasts were studied by use of the patch clamp technique. Stretch-activated (SA) channels in outside-out patches were analyzed for channel conductance, kinetics and ion selectivity. We found three distinct SA channels, permeable to Cl-, K+ and Ca2+ and distinguishable from spontaneous (non-SA) channels for these ions on the basis of conductance, kinetics, and voltage-dependence, as well as sensitivity to membrane stretch. In the attached patch configuration, light suction (2 to 10 kPa) reversibly induced channel opening with multiple amplitudes and complex kinetics. The open probability for SA channels increased nonlinearly with pipette suction. In guard cells in situ, these SA channels may mediate ion transport across the plasma membrane directly, as well as influence the activity of non-SA channels via effects on membrane voltage and cytoplasmic calcium. Through such effects, SA channels likely influence volume and turgor regulation of guard cells, and thereby control of leaf gas exchange.

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Optogenetic techniques have been developed to allow control over the activity of selected cells within a highly heterogeneous tissue, using a combination of genetic engineering and light. Optogenetics employs natural and engineered photoreceptors, mostly of microbial origin, to be genetically introduced into the cells of interest. As a result, cells that are naturally light-insensitive can be made photosensitive and addressable by illumination and precisely controllable in time and space. The selectivity of expression and subcellular targeting in the host is enabled by applying control elements such as promoters, enhancers, and specific targeting sequences to the employed photoreceptorencoding DNA. This powerful approach allows precise characterization and manipulation of cellular

The mechanosensitive channel of small conductance (MscS) protects bacteria against hypoosmotic shock. It can sense the tension in the surrounding membrane and releases solutes if the pressure in the cell is getting too high. The membrane contacts MscS at sensor paddles, but lipids also leave the membrane and move along grooves between the paddles to reside as far as 15 Å away from the membrane in hydrophobic pockets. One sensing model suggests that a higher tension pulls lipids from the grooves back to the membrane, which triggers gating. However, it is still unclear to what degree this model accounts for sensing and what contribution the direct interaction of the membrane with the channel has. Here, we show that MscS opens when it is sufficiently delipidated by incubation with the detergent dodecyl-β-maltoside or the branched detergent lauryl maltose neopentyl glycol. After addition of detergent-solubilized lipids, it closes again. These results support the model that lipid extrusion causes gating: Lipids are slowly removed from the grooves and pockets by the incubation with detergent, which triggers opening. Addition of lipids in micelles allows lipids to migrate back into the pockets, which closes the channel even in the absence of a membrane. Based on the distribution of the aliphatic chains in the open and closed conformation, we propose that during gating, lipids leave the complex on the cytosolic leaflet at the height of highest lateral tension, while on the periplasmic side, lipids flow into gaps, which open between transmembrane helices.

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