scholarly journals STUDIES ON SEEDS

1971 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 387-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hilton H. Mollenhauer ◽  
Clara Totten

Several fixation procedures were studied to determine those most suitable for preservation of seeds during late stages of development and early stages of germination. These are the periods when the tissues are partially dehydrated and are most difficult to fix for electron microscopy. It was found that a prefixation with a mixture of glutaraldehyde, reconstituted formaldehyde (i.e. paraformaldehyde), and acrolein, followed by a postfixation in OsO4 or KMnO4, gives very acceptable images. The results also indicate that glutaraldehyde is necessary for preservation of cell shape, paraformaldehyde for stabilization of reserve proteins, and acrolein for rapid penetration of tissues. Phosphate, cacodylate, and collidine are all acceptable buffers, although collidine gives the most consistent results.

Brain ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Montero-Crespo ◽  
Marta Domínguez-Álvaro ◽  
Lidia Alonso-Nanclares ◽  
Javier DeFelipe ◽  
Lidia Blazquez-Llorca

Abstract Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, characterized by a persistent and progressive impairment of cognitive functions. Alzheimer’s disease is typically associated with extracellular deposits of amyloid-β peptide and accumulation of abnormally phosphorylated tau protein inside neurons (amyloid-β and neurofibrillary pathologies). It has been proposed that these pathologies cause neuronal degeneration and synaptic alterations, which are thought to constitute the major neurobiological basis of cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease. The hippocampal formation is especially vulnerable in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. However, the vast majority of electron microscopy studies have been performed in animal models. In the present study, we performed an extensive 3D study of the neuropil to investigate the synaptic organization in the stratum pyramidale and radiatum in the CA1 field of Alzheimer’s disease cases with different stages of the disease, using focused ion beam/scanning electron microscopy (FIB/SEM). In cases with early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, the synapse morphology looks normal and we observed no significant differences between control and Alzheimer’s disease cases regarding the synaptic density, the ratio of excitatory and inhibitory synapses, or the spatial distribution of synapses. However, differences in the distribution of postsynaptic targets and synaptic shapes were found. Furthermore, a lower proportion of larger excitatory synapses in both strata were found in Alzheimer’s disease cases. Individuals in late stages of the disease suffered the most severe synaptic alterations, including a decrease in synaptic density and morphological alterations of the remaining synapses. Since Alzheimer’s disease cases show cortical atrophy, our data indicate a reduction in the total number (but not the density) of synapses at early stages of the disease, with this reduction being much more accentuated in subjects with late stages of Alzheimer’s disease. The observed synaptic alterations may represent a structural basis for the progressive learning and memory dysfunctions seen in Alzheimer’s disease cases.


Zootaxa ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 3637 (5) ◽  
pp. 569 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID A. SÁNCHEZ

Tadpoles in the superfamily Dendrobatoidea (families Aromobatidae and Dendrobatidae), housed in zoological collections or illustrated in publications, were studied. For the most part, tadpoles of species within the family Aromobatidae, the subfamilies Colostethinae and Hyloxalinae (of the family Dendrobatidae), and those of the genus Phyllobates, Dendrobatinae (Dendrobatidae) have slender anterior jaw sheaths with a medial notch and slender lateral processes, triangular fleshy projections on the inner margin of the nostrils and digestive tube with constant diameter and color and its axis sinistrally directed, concealing the liver and other organs. These morphologies are different from the ones observed in tadpoles of species included in the Dendrobatinae (minus Phyllobates). Exceptions to these morphological arrangements are noted, being the digestive system arrangement and the nostril ornamentation more plastic than the shape of the upper jaw sheath. Tadpoles of all species of the Dendrobatoidea have similar disposition of digestive organs in early stages, but differentiate in late stages of development. Classifying the upper jaw sheath into the two recognized states is possible from very early stages of development, but gut disposition and nostril ornamentation cannot be determined until late in development, making classification and taxonomic assignment of tadpoles based on these morphological features challenging.


Botany ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis Barabé ◽  
Christian Lacroix

The early stages of development of the inflorescence of Anthurium jenmanii Engl. were examined using scanning electron microscopy. The inflorescence of A. jenmanii consists of more than 100 flowers arranged in recognizable spirals. Each flower has four broad tepals enclosing four stamens that are not visible prior to anthesis. The gynoecium consists of two carpels. The floral primordia are first initiated on the lower portion of the inflorescence, they then increase in size and appear as transversely extended bulges. The two lateral tepals are the first organs to be initiated, followed shortly thereafter by the two median tepals. The two lateral stamens are initiated first, directly opposite the lateral tepals, and are followed by two median stamens initiated directly opposite the median tepals. A two-lobed stigma is clearly visible during the early stages of development of the gynoecium. On some of the young inflorescences, all floral parts were covered by extracellular calcium oxalate crystals. The release of these prismatic crystals occurs before the stamens and petals have reached maturity. The mode of floral development observed in Anthurium has similarities with that reported for Gymnostachys . However, contrary to Gymnostachys, the development of the flower of A. jenmanii is not unidirectional.


2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (16) ◽  
pp. 4305-4317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascal Hunziker ◽  
Barbara Ann Halkier ◽  
Alexander Schulz

Abstract The phloem cap of Arabidopsis thaliana accumulates glucosinolates that yield toxic catabolites upon damage-induced hydrolysis. These defence compounds are stored in high concentrations in millimetre long S-cells. At early stages of development, S-cells initiate a process indicative of programmed cell death. How these cells are maintained in a highly turgescent state following this process is currently unknown. Here, we show that S-cells undergo substantial morphological changes during early differentiation. Vacuolar collapse and rapid clearance of the cytoplasm did not occur until senescence. Instead, smooth endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi bodies, vacuoles, and undifferentiated plastids were observed. Lack of chloroplasts indicates that S-cells depend on metabolite supply from neighbouring cells. Interestingly, TEM revealed numerous plasmodesmata between S-cells and neighbouring cells. Photoactivation of a symplasmic tracer showed coupling with neighbouring cells that are involved in glucosinolate synthesis. Hence, symplasmic transport might contribute to glucosinolate storage in S-cells. To investigate the fate of S-cells, we traced them in flower stalks from the earliest detectable stages to senescence. At late stages, S-cells were shown to deposit thick secondary cell walls and transform into phloem fibres. Thus, phloem fibres in the herbaceous plant Arabidopsis pass a pronounced phase of chemical defence during early stages of development.


Author(s):  
S. Mahajan

The evolution of dislocation channels in irradiated metals during deformation can be envisaged to occur in three stages: (i) formation of embryonic cluster free regions, (ii) growth of these regions into microscopically observable channels and (iii) termination of their growth due to the accumulation of dislocation damage. The first two stages are particularly intriguing, and we have attempted to follow the early stages of channel formation in polycrystalline molybdenum, irradiated to 5×1019 n. cm−2 (E > 1 Mev) at the reactor ambient temperature (∼ 60°C), using transmission electron microscopy. The irradiated samples were strained, at room temperature, up to the macroscopic yield point.Figure 1 illustrates the early stages of channel formation. The observations suggest that the cluster free regions, such as A, B and C, form in isolated packets, which could subsequently link-up to evolve a channel.


Author(s):  
Richard Mcintosh ◽  
David Mastronarde ◽  
Kent McDonald ◽  
Rubai Ding

Microtubules (MTs) are cytoplasmic polymers whose dynamics have an influence on cell shape and motility. MTs influence cell behavior both through their growth and disassembly and through the binding of enzymes to their surfaces. In either case, the positions of the MTs change over time as cells grow and develop. We are working on methods to determine where MTs are at different times during either the cell cycle or a morphogenetic event, using thin and thick sections for electron microscopy and computer graphics to model MT distributions.One approach is to track MTs through serial thin sections cut transverse to the MT axis. This work uses a video camera to digitize electron micrographs of cross sections through a MT system and create image files in computer memory. These are aligned and corrected for relative distortions by using the positions of 8 - 10 MTs on adjacent sections to define a general linear transformation that will align and warp adjacent images to an optimum fit. Two hundred MT images are then used to calculate an “average MT”, and this is cross-correlated with each micrograph in the serial set to locate points likely to correspond to MT centers. This set of points is refined through a discriminate analysis that explores each cross correlogram in the neighborhood of every point with a high correlation score.


Botany ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 91 (7) ◽  
pp. 421-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.D. Shafiullah ◽  
Christian R. Lacroix

Myriophyllum aquaticum (Vell.) Verdc. produces two morphologically different forms of leaves based on whether they are aerial or aquatic. The objective of this study was to determine whether there are any similarities or differences between these two growth forms during their early stages of development. A comparative developmental study of aerial and aquatic growth forms of M. aquaticum was conducted from a qualitative and quantitative perspective using a scanning electron microscope. The pattern of leaf and lobe initiation such as their origin and shape were similar in both growth forms until the fourth plastochron (stage P4). Differences between the two growth forms became evident from stage P5 onward, where a larger shoot apical meristem (SAM), elongated epidermal cells, shorter and slightly more numerous lobes, as well as the presence of appendage-like structures characterized aquatic growth forms. On the other hand, aerial growth forms had smaller SAM, bulb-like epidermal cells, and longer and slightly less numerous leaf lobes. Significant differences between growth forms were noted for parameters such as volume of SAM, length of terminal, first, and middle lobes, as well as the length from first to last lobes. The volume of the SAM of aquatic shoot tips was always greater than aerial forms. On the other hand, lobes of aerial forms were always longer than the aquatic counterpart during early stages of development. This study on the development of M. aquaticum shows that the aerial and aquatic growth forms diverge from their early stages of development.


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