On the Accumulation of Dye in Nitella

Living cells of Nitella were placed in different concentrations of brilliant cresyl blue solutions at pH 6.9. It was found that the greater the concentration of the external dye solution, the greater was the speed of accumulation of the dye in the cell sap and higher was the concentration of dye found in the sap at equilibrium. Analysis of the time curves showed that the process may be regarded as a reversible pseudounimolecular reaction. When the concentration in the sap is plotted as ordinates and the concentration in the outside solution as abscissae the curve is convex toward the abscissae. There is reason to believe that secondary changes involving injury take place as the dye accumulates and that if these changes did not occur the curve would be concave toward the abscissae. The process may be explained as a chemical combination of the dye with a constituent of the cell. This harmonizes with the fact that the temperature coefficient is high (about 4.9). Various other possible explanations are discussed.