protoplast
/ˈproʊtəˌplæst/
noun
- The living part of a plant or bacterial cell, consisting of the protoplasm and the cell membrane, especially after the cell wall has been removed.
- The protoplast swelled when placed in a solution with lower salt concentration.
- Scientists use protoplasts to create hybrid plants by fusing cells from different species.
- In the lab, researchers isolated the protoplast from the plant cell to study its membrane.