• The regulation of plant potassium (K+) channels has been extensively studied in various systems. However, the mechanism of their regulation in the pollen tube is unclear. • In this study, the effects of heme and carbon monoxide (CO) on the outward K+ (K+(out)) channel in pear (Pyrus pyrifolia) pollen tube protoplasts were characterized using a patch-clamp technique. • Heme (1 μM) decreased the probability of K+(out) channel opening without affecting the unitary conductance, but this inhibition disappeared when heme was co-applied with 10 μM intracellular free Ca²+. Conversely, exposure to heme in the presence of NADPH increased channel activity. However, with tin protoporphyrin IX treatment, which inhibits hemeoxygenase activity, the inhibition of the K+(out) channel by heme occurred even in the presence of NADPH. CO, a product of heme catabolism by hemeoxygenase, activates the K+(out) channel in pollen tube protoplasts in a dose-dependent manner. The current induced by CO was inhibited by the K+ channel inhibitor tetraethylammonium. • These data indicate a role of heme and CO in reciprocal regulation of the K+(out) channel in pear pollen tubes.
© 2010 Nanjing Agricultural University. New Phytologist © 2010 New Phytologist Trust.