Acid-Base Transport and Control in Locust Hindgut: Artefacts Caused by Short-Circuit Current
The commonly used method of passing short-circuit current (Isc) across insect epithelia through Ag-AgCl electrodes, without the use of salt bridges, leads to significant OH− production at the cathode (lumen side) when high currents are applied. The alkalization of the lumen previously reported when cyclic AMP was added to short-circuited locust hindgut is a result of this phenomenon rather than cyclic-AMP-mediated stimulation of acid-base transport in the hindgut. When salt bridges are used to pass short-circuit current across locust hindgut, acid secretion (JH) into the lumen equals alkaline movement (JOH) to the haemocoel side, and JH is similar under both open- and short-circuit conditions. JH is similar (1.5 μequiv cm−2 h−1) in recta and ilea. Addition of cyclic AMP inhibits JH across the rectum by 42–66%, but has no effect on the ileum when salt bridges are used. Electrical parameters (Isc, Vt, Rt) reflecting hindgut Cl− transport (JCL) before and after stimulation with cyclic AMP are the same whether or not salt bridges are used. We found no evidence of any coupling between JCl and JH/JOH.