scholarly journals Aleurone Transfer Cells and other Structural Features of the Spikelet of Millet

1971 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 391 ◽  
Author(s):  
S-Y Zee ◽  
TP O'brien

In recent publications we have described the distribution and structure of vascular transfer cells in the floral axes of wheat (Zee and O'Brien 1971) and the presence of a xylem discontinuity composed of modified tracheary elements at the base of the peri carp (Zee and O'Brien 1970a). We have also examined the structure of the pigment strand during grain formation (Zee and O'Brien 1970b). In order to find out if these structures are present in the florets of a non-festucoid grass we have examined a member of the Paniceae, Japanese millet (Echinochloa utilis Ohwi & Yabuno).

1975 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 432-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward C. Yeung ◽  
R. L. Peterson

A number of cytological changes occur in rhizome transfer cells with age, the most striking being the appearance of microbodies each with a crystalline nucleoid and the presence of unusual plastids. Plastids in older transfer cells develop one or more electron-translucent regions and lack a defined thylakoid system. The number and size of vacuoles increases until ultimately one large vacuole is formed in old transfer cells. Accompanying these cytological changes in the cytoplasm the wall ingrowths change from being highly involuted and reaching a considerable distance into the cytoplasm of the cell to becoming thicker and less numerous, and finally form a rather uniformly thickened wall layer. The orientation of microfibrils in the thickened cell wall, resulting from the joining of the original wall projections adjacent to the tracheary elements, is random, while the wall thickenings away from the tracheary elements have more orderly arrangements of cellulose microfibrils.


1975 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 107 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Zee

Structural features of the tissues of the pigment strand in the caryopsis of wheat were studied by means of the scanning electron microscope.


1980 ◽  
Vol 58 (9) ◽  
pp. 1045-1055 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thompson Demetrio Pizzolato

The four lodicules of the male spikelet of Zea mays L. are supplied by one, two, or three traces. In the lower regions of the traces intermediary cells and a few phloem transfer cells occur with the companion cells and sieve tubes. Xylem transfer cells with a variety of wall thickenings intermingle in the lower regions of the traces with tracheary elements. Tracheary elements and sieve tubes in this region do not touch but are separated by the phloem and xylem parenchyma. As the lodicule trace nears the base of the lodicule, intermediary cells and transfer cells diminish. A bundle sheath surrounds the lodicule trace but does not surround the minor veins of the lodicule proper. Within the lodicule proper the trace branches prolifically, and the minor veins become peripherally placed. Most of the minor veins contain vessels and sieve tubes but a few contain sieve tubes alone. Companion cells occur in some veins but not in others. Vessels and sieve tubes frequently touch each other. Many minor veins end simultaneously in sieve elements and tracheary elements but some end in one or the other cell type. Parenchyma cells with wrinkled walls occur near the minor veins. The abaxial epidermis of the upper regions of the lodicule contains stomates.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 852-868
Author(s):  
S. RAVI SHANKAR ◽  
P. DAYANANDAN

Anatomical and histochemical studies of ovary and caryopsis of sorghum reveal the importance of the chalazal complex in transporting nutrients from maternal sources to the filial diploid embryo and triploid endosperm. The presence of starch, protein, lipid, Ca, K, Mg, and Fe in various tissues at different stages of development can be revealed by a variety of histochemical techniques. Vascular supply ends at the base of the ovary and transport occurs through vascular parenchyma, pigment strand and nucellar projection where symplastic continuity is broken. Nutrients unloaded into an apoplastic placental sac then enter the endosperm and embryo through the aleurone transfer cells. The later possess characteristic wall ingrowth. The single layer of aleurone surrounding the endosperm may also help in transport during later stages of grain-filling. Grain-filling in C4 sorghum is compared with other C4 and C3 grasses showing the variety of strategies evolved to transport nutrients into filial tissues. Standardization of terminologies to describe the tissues of the crease region will help in further research and communication.


1979 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 703 ◽  
Author(s):  
CH Busby ◽  
TP O'Brien

Xylem transfer cells are strongly developed in the departing leaf traces of the mature wheat node. Their differentiation is initiated soon after the appearance of the first tracheary elements in these bundles. and wall ingrowth development reaches its peak just as the leaf to which the bundle belongs becomes fully expanded. It is suggested that the xylem transfer cells play an important role in redirecting solutes travelling in the xylem of the mature leaf to the developing leaves at the shoot apex. It is further suggested that they form an integral part of the normal xylem transpiration pathway, compensating for xylem restrictions and discontinuities in the mature node. Phloem transfer cells also appear very early in the differentiation of the nodal vasculature, although their function remains obscure.


Author(s):  
O.C. de Hodgins ◽  
K. R. Lawless ◽  
R. Anderson

Commercial polyimide films have shown to be homogeneous on a scale of 5 to 200 nm. The observation of Skybond (SKB) 705 and PI5878 was carried out by using a Philips 400, 120 KeV STEM. The objective was to elucidate the structural features of the polymeric samples. The specimens were spun and cured at stepped temperatures in an inert atmosphere and cooled slowly for eight hours. TEM micrographs showed heterogeneities (or nodular structures) generally on a scale of 100 nm for PI5878 and approximately 40 nm for SKB 705, present in large volume fractions of both specimens. See Figures 1 and 2. It is possible that the nodulus observed may be associated with surface effects and the structure of the polymers be regarded as random amorphous arrays. Diffraction patterns of the matrix and the nodular areas showed different amorphous ring patterns in both materials. The specimens were viewed in both bright and dark fields using a high resolution electron microscope which provided magnifications of 100,000X or more on the photographic plates if desired.


Author(s):  
D. F. Blake ◽  
L. F. Allard ◽  
D. R. Peacor

Echinodermata is a phylum of marine invertebrates which has been extant since Cambrian time (c.a. 500 m.y. before the present). Modern examples of echinoderms include sea urchins, sea stars, and sea lilies (crinoids). The endoskeletons of echinoderms are composed of plates or ossicles (Fig. 1) which are with few exceptions, porous, single crystals of high-magnesian calcite. Despite their single crystal nature, fracture surfaces do not exhibit the near-perfect {10.4} cleavage characteristic of inorganic calcite. This paradoxical mix of biogenic and inorganic features has prompted much recent work on echinoderm skeletal crystallography. Furthermore, fossil echinoderm hard parts comprise a volumetrically significant portion of some marine limestones sequences. The ultrastructural and microchemical characterization of modern skeletal material should lend insight into: 1). The nature of the biogenic processes involved, for example, the relationship of Mg heterogeneity to morphological and structural features in modern echinoderm material, and 2). The nature of the diagenetic changes undergone by their ancient, fossilized counterparts. In this study, high resolution TEM (HRTEM), high voltage TEM (HVTEM), and STEM microanalysis are used to characterize tha ultrastructural and microchemical composition of skeletal elements of the modern crinoid Neocrinus blakei.


Author(s):  
U. Aebi ◽  
P. Rew ◽  
T.-T. Sun

Various types of intermediate-sized (10-nm) filaments have been found and described in many different cell types during the past few years. Despite the differences in the chemical composition among the different types of filaments, they all yield common structural features: they are usually up to several microns long and have a diameter of 7 to 10 nm; there is evidence that they are made of several 2 to 3.5 nm wide protofilaments which are helically wound around each other; the secondary structure of the polypeptides constituting the filaments is rich in ∞-helix. However a detailed description of their structural organization is lacking to date.


Author(s):  
R.M. Glaeser ◽  
S.B. Hayward

Highly ordered or crystalline biological macromolecules become severely damaged and structurally disordered after a brief electron exposure. Evidence that damage and structural disorder are occurring is clearly given by the fading and eventual disappearance of the specimen's electron diffraction pattern. The fading and disappearance of sharp diffraction spots implies a corresponding disappearance of periodic structural features in the specimen. By the same token, there is a oneto- one correspondence between the disappearance of the crystalline diffraction pattern and the disappearance of reproducible structural information that can be observed in the images of identical unit cells of the object structure. The electron exposures that result in a significant decrease in the diffraction intensity will depend somewhat upon the resolution (Bragg spacing) involved, and can vary considerably with the chemical makeup and composition of the specimen material.


Author(s):  
Godfrey C. Hoskins ◽  
Betty B. Hoskins

Metaphase chromosomes from human and mouse cells in vitro are isolated by micrurgy, fixed, and placed on grids for electron microscopy. Interpretations of electron micrographs by current methods indicate the following structural features.Chromosomal spindle fibrils about 200Å thick form fascicles about 600Å thick, wrapped by dense spiraling fibrils (DSF) less than 100Å thick as they near the kinomere. Such a fascicle joins the future daughter kinomere of each metaphase chromatid with those of adjacent non-homologous chromatids to either side. Thus, four fascicles (SF, 1-4) attach to each metaphase kinomere (K). It is thought that fascicles extend from the kinomere poleward, fray out to let chromosomal fibrils act as traction fibrils against polar fibrils, then regroup to join the adjacent kinomere.


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