An unfamiliar class of electrical events with rapid rise and slow decay has
been identified in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) plants impaled b
y metal electrodes. Rise-times of these extracellularly detected events can
be 200 mus or less, while fall-times can require hundreds of milliseconds.
In excised tomato shoots, these events are associated with the imposition
of water stress. The hypothesized origin of these events is the fracture of
water columns in the xylem and the triboelectrification that occurs as the
ends of the columns snap apart.