The membrane electrical parameters of Nitella translucens.

A solution is provided for the time-dependent equation for the voltage response to the sudden application of a current pulse in a non-inductive coaxial cable terminated by infinite impedances. It is shown that this model accurately describes the electrical behaviour of the giant internodal cells of the freshwater alga, Nitella translucens, for currents of subthreshold magnitude. On the basis of this model the membrane resistance, capacitance and space constant can be evaluated. The relationship between the measured resistance and that which can be defined theoretically from the flux equations is discussed.