Cooperative mechanosensitive ion channels in Escherichia coli.

A patch-clamp investigation was carried out on giant Escherichia coli spheroplasts. The membrane exhibited stretch-induced as well as "spontaneous" activity, with similar characteristics, i.e., a large number of conductance values arising from the cooperative behavior of channels in functional clusters. It appears likely that the same molecular species are responsible for both stretch-induced and "spontaneous" current conduction; the channel multiplexes can either respond to membrane stretch or function in an activate state, presumably brought about by the previous application of the mechanical stimulus.