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Voltage Noise in Acer pseudoplatanus Cells ¹

Basic Cellular Noise and Gramicidin a Induced Noise

Laboratoire "Echanges cellulaires," UA CNRS 203, Faculté des Sciences, BP 67, 76130 Mont-Saint-Aignan, France

The present contribution is devoted to studying the electrical noise of Acer pseudoplatanus cells in culture suspensions. Spontaneous voltage noise of the cells was recorded by means of a microelectrode inserted in the vacuole. The small signal impedance of the cell was measured so that it was possible to study the intensity spectra of the noise. We recorded intensity spectra with cells incubated in 10^–3 molar gramicidin A. Difference spectra showed characteristics of a channel noise. By using the calculated conductance of gramicidin A in an artificial membrane, and by simplifying assumptions for the ionic transports through plasmalemma and tonoplast, we were able to estimate the electrochemical potential difference for K⁺ ions across the plasmalemma (3.2 ± 1 millivolt).