Control of Cl(−) Efflux in Chara corallina by Cytosolic pH, Free Ca(2+), and Phosphorylation Indicates a Role of Plasma Membrane Anion Channels in Cytosolic pH Regulation

Enhanced Cl(−) efflux during acidosis in plants is thought to play a role in cytosolic pH (pH(c)) homeostasis by short-circuiting the current produced by the electrogenic H(+) pump, thereby facilitating enhanced H(+) efflux from the cytosol. Using an intracellular perfusion technique, which enables experimental control of medium composition at the cytosolic surface of the plasma membrane of charophyte algae (Chara corallina), we show that lowered pH(c) activates Cl(−) efflux via two mechanisms. The first is a direct effect of pH(c) on Cl(−) efflux; the second mechanism comprises a pH(c)-induced increase in affinity for cytosolic free Ca(2+) ([Ca(2+)](c)), which also activates Cl(−) efflux. Cl(−) efflux was controlled by phosphorylation/dephosphorylation events, which override the responses to both pH(c) and [Ca(2+)](c). Whereas phosphorylation (perfusion with the catalytic subunit of protein kinase A in the presence of ATP) resulted in a complete inhibition of Cl(−) efflux, dephosphorylation (perfusion with alkaline phosphatase) arrested Cl(−) efflux at 60% of the maximal level in a manner that was both pH(c) and [Ca(2+)](c) independent. These findings imply that plasma membrane anion channels play a central role in pH(c) regulation in plants, in addition to their established roles in turgor/volume regulation and signal transduction.