Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Commons^™

In the legume phloem, sieve element occlusion (SEO) proteins assemble into Ca2+-dependent contractile bodies. These forisomes presumably control phloem transport by forming reversible sieve tube plugs. This function, however, has never been directly demonstrated, and appears questionable as forisomes were reported to be too small to plug sieve tubes, and failed to block flow efficiently in artificial microchannels. Moreover, plugs of SEO-related proteins in Arabidopsis sieve tubes do not affect phloem translocation. We improved existing procedures for forisome isolation and storage, and found that the degree of Ca2+-driven deformation that is possible in forisomes of Vicia faba, the standard …

With the discovery in plants of the proteinaceous forisome crystalloid (Knoblauch, et al. 2003), a novel, non-living, ATP-independent biological material became available to the designer of smart materials for advanced actuating and sensing. The in vitro studies of Knoblauch, et al. show that forisomes (2-4 micron wide and 10-40 micron long) can be repeatedly stimulated to contract and expand anisotropically by shifting either the ambient pH or the ambient calcium ion concentration. Because of their unique abilities to develop and reverse strains greater than 20% in time periods less than one second, forisomes have the potential to outperform current smart …