MATERIALS AND METHODSThe effects of several amino-reactive disulfonic stilbene deriatives and N-(4-azido-2-nitrophenyl)-2-aminoethylsulfonate on Clr, S042-, and inorganic phosphate (Pi) uptake in protoplasts isolated from corn root tissue were studied. 4-Acetamido-4'-isothiocyano-2,2'-stilbenedisulfonic acid, 4,4'-diisothiocyano-2,2'-stilbenedisulfonic acid, 4,4'-diamino-2,2'-stilbenedisulfonic acid, and NAP-taurine inhibited Cl and S042-but not Pi and K+ uptake in corn root protoplasts; whereas mersalyl inhibited Pi but not Cl1 or S04-2 uptake. The rate of uptake of all anions decreased with increasing external pH. In addition, these reagents markedly inhibited plasmalemma ATPase activity isolated from corn root tissue. Excised root segments were less sensitive to Cl and S042-transport inhibitors.A growing interest has emerged on the nature of anion transport in several biological systems. For example, carrier proteins for phosphate, chloride, and sulfate transport have been recently identified and isolated from bacteria (1, 20), fungi (6), and human red blood cells (see reviews 10, 24). In the red blood cell studies (2-4, 8, 11, 17), several nonpermanent, amino-reactive reagents (e.g., SITS,2 DIDS, DADS, and NAP-taurine), which covalently bind to the plasmalemma, have been used to identify and characterize the band 3 membrane protein as the carrier for CF-and s042-transport.Virtually no information is available on the nature of the carrier proteins responsible for ion transport in plant cells, particularly root cells which are the major sites of entry for ions into the plants. The lack of such information is due, in part, to the lack of suitable technique for isolating functional protoplasts from roots which are, by their nature, more amenable to techniques that have been used to characterize membrane transport. Recently, we developed techniques for the large scale and rapid isolation of protoplasts from corn roots (13) which are capable of transporting several ions (K+, H2PO4 , and H+). In this study, several chemical modifiers which have been used to study anion transport into red blood cells were employed to study anion transport into corn root protoplasts with the intent of providing further insight into anion transport in plant cells. Delaware, 19801. 2Abbreviations: SITS, 4-acetamido4'-isothiocyano-2,2'-stilbenedisulfonic acid; DIDS: 4,4'-diisothiocyano-2,2'-stilbenedisulfonic acid; DADS, 4,4'-diamino-2,2'-stilbenedisulfonic acid; NAP-taurine, N-(4-azido-2-nitrophenyl)-2-aminoethylsulfonate; FCCP, (p-trifluoromethoxy) carbonyl cyanide phenylhydrazone; DIFP, diisopropylfluorophosphate.A modification of our previously reported method (13) was used to isolate protoplasts from young corn roots. As outlined in Figure 1, 0.1% pectolyase Y-23 (16) substituted for pectinase and hemicellulase in the digestion enzyme mixture. Also, the tissue incubation time in the digestion mixture was shortened to 1.5 to 2 h and the precentrifugation steps were omitted. The yield of 106 protoplasts/g root tissue and...