CELL BURST AS A MECHANISM OF PLANT-CELL INJURY .2. ORIGIN OF CELL BURST WITHIN THE THEORY OF MEMBRANE LYSIS

The physical basis of cell bursts in turgescent plant cells was analyz ed. A sensor of small displacements was placed over a large cylindrica l Nitella syncarpa cell placed on a firm horizontal support, which all owed the recording of cytoplasm ejections and the recovery of cell tur gor during recurrent cell bursts in EDTA solutions. The experimental d ata were compatible with theoretical predictions derived from the osmo tic-lysis model, suggesting a common physical origin of cell bursts in turgescent plant cells and osmotic lysis in animal cells and lipid ve sicles. The specific pattern of lysis in plant cells is due to their a bility to form plugs that seal wounds in the plasmalemma and cell wall s.