A patch clamp study on the electro-permeabilization of higher plant cells: Supra-physiological voltages induce a high-conductance, K+ selective state of the plasma membrane.

Permeabilization of biological membranes by pulsed electric fields ("electroporation") is frequently used as a tool in biotechnology. However, the electrical properties of cellular membranes at supra-physiological voltages are still a topic of intensive research efforts. Here, the patch clamp technique in the whole cell and the outside out configuration was employed to monitor current-voltage relations of protoplasts derived from the tobacco culture cell line "Bright yellow-2".