The treatment with fusicoccin causes a slight but significant decrease (about 15%) The electrogenic proton extrusion stimulated by FC1 is an energy-dependent process which is inhibited by respiratory and metabolic poisons (12,16). Recent data indicate that, in Neurospora (18,19) and in bacteria (6), ATP is the energy source for electrogenic transport systems presumably analogous to the one activated by FC in higher plants. Substantial MATERIALS AND METHODS Maize (Zea mays L. cv. Dekalb XL 640) seeds and peak (Pisum sativum cv. Alaska) seedlings were grown for 4 and 6 days, respectively, at 26 C on poplar sawdust in the dark.Maize-coleoptile segments, 3 mm long, were cut from the region between 5 and 15 mm from the tip; the segments were longitudinally divided in half. Pea-stem segments, 2 mm long, were cdt in the subapical region of the distal internode. The segments were washed for 2 h in 0.5 mm CaCl2 and 0.25 nuM MgCl2 (the solution was changed after 30 min) and then transferred to the various media as described in the individual experiments; 0.5 mM CaCl2 and 0.25 mM MgCl2 were present in every treatment. The experiments were run in the dark in a thermoregulated water-bath with shaking (70 shakes/min) at 28 C in the case of maize coleoptiles and at 25 C in the case of pea-stem segments.An atmosphere of 3% 02 or anaerobiosis was obtained by continuous bubbling in the incubation medium of 3% 02-97% N2 or of 02-free N2.Three different methods of ATP extraction from the tissue were tested: incubation in boiling triethanolamine HCl/NaOH buffer (pH 7.6) for 1 min (5), treatment with liquid N2 and 5% trichloroacetic acid containing 0.05% 8-hydroxyquinoline, and treatment with 0.8 N HC104 at 0 C. The tissue was always homogenized in a mortar in the presence of sea sand. The highest values of ATP levels were obtained by extraction with 0.8 N HC104 at 0 C, therefore, this extraction was performed in all the experiments.The 3% 02 atmosphere and anaerobiosis were maintained during fixation ofthe tissue with HC104. The homogenate was centrifuged for 5 min and the pellet was washed with 0.8 N HC104. The two supernatants were combined, neutralized with KOH in the presence of 120 mM triethanolamine HCl/NaOH buffer (pH 7.6), and centrifuged again. The enzymic assay of ATP was performed on the supernatant according to Lamprecht and Trautshold (10). K+ uptake was assayed by using rubidium-86 as a tracer. Incubation was performed in 1 mm KCI labeled with 0.5 ,uCi mRbCl; at the end of the incubation, the tissue was briefly rinsed with 10 ml cold unlabeled solution and then washed at 0 C for 10 min in 5 ml ice-cold unlabeled solution; finally, the sections were rapidly rinsed with ice-cold H20. Distilled H20 (4 ml) and 10 ml Instagel (Packard) were added to the tissue and the radioactivity of the samples was measured in a Packard Tri-Carb scintillation