USE OF NA-23 NUCLEAR-MAGNETIC-RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPY TO DETERMINE THE TRUE INTRACELLULAR CONCENTRATION OF FREE SODIUM IN A HALOPHILIC EUBACTERIUM

We present new data obtained by Na-23 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, which can distinguish free intracellular sodium from cell-bound sodium, showing that the intracellular concentration of Na+ the halophilic eubacterium Vibrio costicola is only 5 to 20% of that in the extracellular medium. Previous methods could not distinguish free intracellular Na+ from that bound to cell structures, and it was believed that in halophilic eubacteria the total monovalent cation concentration inside matched that of the NaCl outside. Information obtained by the newer technology raises fundamental questions about the ways in which these organisms and others which live in hypersaline environments function and cope with osmotic stress.