Temperature Effects on Formation and Fine Structure of Brassica napus Leaf Waxes

1976 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 309 ◽  
Author(s):  
DJ Armstrong ◽  
MI Whitecross

Incorporation of 1-14C-palmitic acid, a precursor of leaf waxes, into leaf strips of Brassica napus was examined by thin section autoradiography and electron microscopy. Label was found to be associated with mitochrondria, Golgi vesicles and endoplasmic reticulum of epidermal cells, and also with the outer epidermal wall across which cuticular lipids are expected to migrate. Variations in growth temperatures produced structural changes in surface waxes as previously reported but no specific correlation could be found between changes in surface fine structure and variations in subcellular morphology. It is concluded that variations in wax fine structure, as influenced by growth temperature, resulted from effects at the biochemical level.

1979 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 531 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Bartley ◽  
ND Hallam

Electron microscopy demonstrated gross changes to organelles during dehydration, particularly in chloroplasts which lose thylakoids. Plastoglobuli increase in size as internal chloroplast membranes develop into vesicles. An increase in polysomes and in rough endoplasmic reticulum after moderate stress suggested the possibility of increased protein synthesis at this time. The loss of chlorophyll while grana were still evident suggested an ordered destructuring of the chlorophyll. In dry tissue the nucleus remained intact, mitochondria contained few indistinct cristae and chloroplasts appeared as organelles containing vesicles and plastoglobuli. Both aqueous and anhydrous fixation techniques were used to follow h e structural changes on drying.


CONVERSAZIONES were held this year on 9 May and 27 June. At the first conversazione twenty-seven exhibits and two films were shown. The fine structure of plant roots in relation to transport of nutrient ions and water was demonstrated by Dr D. T. Clarkson of the A.R.C. Letcombe Laboratory, Wantage and Dr A. W. Robards of the Department of Biology, University of York. Two major pathways by which nutrients and water move radially across the cortex towards the central vascular tissue have been distinguished by the use of tracer studies of adsorption by different zones of intact root systems, microautoradiography and electron microscopy. Movement can be apoplastic through cell walls, or symplastic between cells joined by plasmodesmata. As the root ages, structural changes in the endodermis reduce movement in the former pathway but the symplast is not interrupted by the elaboration of endodermal walls because plasmodesmatal connexions remain intact. These observations help explain the contrasting extent to which different ions and water reach the shoot from young and mature parts of root systems.


1965 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Benjamin Bouck ◽  
James Cronshaw

The developmental sequences leading to the formation of mature sieve tube elements were studied in pea plants by electron microscopy. From this study it has been found that the peripheral layer of cytoplasm in the mature element is composed of flattened cisternae which are apparently derived from a tubular form of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and possibly the nuclear envelope. These flattened cisternae, designated in this report as sieve tube reticula, are attached perpendicularly to the wall surface and are oriented in a predominantly longitudinal direction. Cisternae of the sieve tube reticulum are frequently associated with the slime in mature elements, and tubular ER may be associated with slimelike material in the developing sieve tube element. During differentiation mitochondria become reduced in size and chloroplasts either fail to develop stroma and grana lamellae or lose them early in development. In agreement with other workers it is found that the sieve plate pores appear to be plugged with a finely fibrous material, presumably "slime." Nacreous wall formation is well established before reorganization of cytoplasmic components. Microtubules are prevalent during these early stages, but are lost as the element matures.


Blood ◽  
1962 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 492-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. H. DE MAN ◽  
W. B. H. MEINERS ◽  
W. Beens

Abstract The occurrence of crystals in the cytoplasm of lymphatic cells in a case of lymphoreticular malignancy—probably lymphocytic leukemia—is reported. Histochemistry revealed the protein nature of these crystals. It appeared that the protein was water-soluble, with no admixture of polysaccharides. Electron microscopy of the crystals showed a fine structure of regularly arranged thin lines with a spacing of 100 Å. The crystals were surrounded by membranes of the endoplasmic reticulum.


1962 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allen C. Enders

Corpora lutea from the period of delayed implantation and from early postimplantation stages of the armadillo, mink, and rat were fixed in buffered osmium tetroxide-sucrose or potassium permanganate. After rapid dehydration, the portions of the corpora lutea were embedded in either methacrylate or epoxy resin. Examination of the lutein cells by electron microscopy revealed the presence, in the better preserved material, of an extensive development of tubular agranular endoplasmic reticulum. Although the membranes of the endoplasmic reticulum are the most striking feature of the lutein cells of both stages of the three animals examined, very numerous large mitochondria with cristae that exhibit a variety of forms tending toward villiform, and protrusions and foldings of the lutein cell margins on the pericapillary space are also characteristic of these cells. Certain minor differences in the lutein cells of the species examined are also noted. No indications of conversion of mitochondria into lipid, of accumulation of lipid in the Golgi area, or of the protrusion of lutein cells into spaces between the endothelial cells, as suggested by other authors, were noted in these preparations. Some of the difficulties inherent in the visualization of the secretory activity of cells producing steroid hormones are briefly discussed.


1965 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 523-537 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Benjamin Bouck

The structural interrelationships among several membrane systems in the cells of brown algae have been examined by electron microscopy. In the brown algae the chloroplasts are surrounded by two envelopes, the outer of which in some cases is continuous with the nuclear envelope. The pyrenoid, when present, protrudes from the chloroplast, is also surrounded by the two chloroplast envelopes, and, in addition, is capped by a third dilated envelope or "pyrenoid sac." The regular apposition of the membranes around the pyrenoid contrasts with their looser appearance over the remainder of the chloroplast. The Golgi apparatus is closely associated with the nuclear envelope in all brown algae examined, but in the Fucales this association may extend to portions of the cytoplasmic endoplasmic reticulum as well. Evidence is presented for the derivation of vesicles, characteristic of those found in the formative region of the Golgi apparatus, from portions of the underlying nuclear envelope. The possibility that a structural channeling system for carbohydrate reserves and secretory precursors may be present in brown algae is considered. Other features of the brown algal cell, such as crystal-containing bodies, the variety of darkly staining vacuoles, centrioles, and mitochondria, are examined briefly, and compared with similar structures in other plant cells.


1966 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 465-475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary R. Daniel ◽  
J. T. Dingle ◽  
Audrey M. Glauert ◽  
J. A. Lucy

Rat dermal fibroblasts were grown as monolayers, and changes in the fine structure of the cells that occurred during 12 hr incubation in a medium containing protein and excess of retinol (vitamin A alcohol) were studied by electron microscopy. There is little change during the first 6 hr, although some of the nuclei have highly convoluted membranes. During the subsequent 3 hr, there is some disorganization of the mitochondrial cristae; the cisternae of the rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum diminish in number; and the amount of smooth membranous material and free ribosomes increases. There is a rapid decline in the respiratory activity of the cells after 6 hr exposure to the vitamin. It is concluded that the primary action of excess of retinol is to cause alterations in the membranes of the cells and that these alterations affect the functions of the mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum.


1979 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 75-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Lewis ◽  
David E. Prentice

Summary The fine structure of rhesus monkey renomedullary interstitial cells was studied by electron microscopy. These stellate cells contained variable numbers of lipid droplets, moderate numbers of mitochondria, moderate amounts of rough endoplasmic reticulum, and prominent Golgi zones. In rare instances, apparent release of lipid droplets into the interstitium was observed. The most prominent feature of the interstitial cells was large nuclear pseudoinclusions which were observed in a high proportion of the animals examined.


1973 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 713-735 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Bartlett Bunge

The leading tips of elongating nerve fibers are enlarged into "growth cones" which are seen in tissue culture to continually undergo changes in conformation and to foster numerous transitory slender extensions (filopodia) and/or a veillike ruffling sheet. After explantation of 1-day-old rat superior cervical ganglia (as pieces or as individual neurons), nerve fibers and tips were photographed during growth and through the initial stages of aldehyde fixation and then relocated after embedding in plastic. Electron microscopy of serially sectioned tips revealed the following. The moving parts of the cone, the peripheral flange and filopodia, contained a distinctive apparently filamentous feltwork from which all organelles except membranous structures were excluded; microtubules were notably absent from these areas. The cone interior contained varied forms of agranular endoplasmic reticulum, vacuoles, vesicles, coated vesicles, mitochondria, microtubules, and occasional neurofilaments and polysomes. Dense-cored vesicles and lysosomal structures were also present and appeared to be formed locally, at least in part from reticulum. The possible roles of the various forms of agranular membranous components are discussed and it is suggested that structures involved in both the assembly and degradation of membrane are present in the cone. The content of these growing tips resembles that in sensory neuron growth cones studied by others.


1966 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Bassot

Luminous cells of polynoid worm elytra have been examined by methods of electron microscopy, with special attention focused on the fine structure of photogenic grains. These cells send apical prolongations into the mid-part of the elytra. The plasma membrane is very sinuous, and a special kind of desmosome links two portions of the same membrane. In addition to all the organelles which can be found in nonluminescent epithelial cells of the elytra, numerous photogenic grains are contained in their cytoplasm. These grains are composed of undulating microtubules measuring 200 A in diameter; their disposition in the grain is highly regular, and the grains appear as paracrystals. At the borders of the grains, the walls of the microtubules are often in continuity with those of the endoplasmic reticulum and with the external membrane of the nuclear envelope. Because of this fact, the microtubules of the grains may be considered a cytoplasmic organelle, representing a specialized form of the endoplasmic reticulum. The microtubules permit the repartition, inside and outside their walls, of two different products, one being forty-three times more abundant than the other; thus, the contact surface, in comparison to the volume, is greatly increased. The induction of the luminous reaction by change in the permeability of the microtubule walls, allowing contact between the two substances, is suggested as a working hypothesis. There is an evolution of the grains along the axis of the photocytes. The grains are often surrounded by progressively increasing amounts of glycogen. Their paracrystalline disposition is altered at the apex of the luminous cells.


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