Direct Demonstration of Dielectric Breakdown in the Membranes of Valonia utricularis
Open Access
- 1 February 1975
- journal article
- Published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH in Zeitschrift für Naturforschung C
- Vol. 30 (1-2) , 77-79
- https://doi.org/10.1515/znc-1975-1-217
Abstract
It is shown that if the membrane potential of cells of Valonia utricularis was increased rapidly by applying ~500 μs current pulses, dielectric breakdown of the membrane occured when the potential reached a value of ~0.85 V. The breakdown phenomenon observed was not associated with global damage to the cell or its membrane. The process could be repeated after a short resealing time (~ 10s), many times on a single cell. The rapidity of the breakdown process (~1 μs) rules out the possibility that dielectric breakdown occurs by a mechanism similar to that of punch-through, which involves changes in ionic profiles.Keywords
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