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ULTRASTRUCTURE OF DRUSE CRYSTAL IDIOBLASTS IN LEAVES OF CERCIDIUM FLORIDUM
Author(s) -
Price John L.
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.1002/j.1537-2197.1970.tb09901.x
Subject(s) - biology , ultrastructure , vacuole , chloroplast , palisade cell , plastid , spongy tissue , biophysics , parenchyma , microbiology and biotechnology , botany , cytoplasm , biochemistry , gene
The ultrastructure of druse crystal idioblasts in palo verde leaves is similar in certain aspects to other crystal‐containing idioblasts, but also displays several notable differences. Although the crystal itself is dissolved during the preparative procedure, the druse idioblast is readily observable. The large crystal is contained in a tightly appressed vacuole in the center of the idioblast. Between the crystal vacuole and the cell wall there is a narrow stalk‐like connection which has the same substructure and staining characteristics as cell wall material. The membrane of this crystal vacuole and the idioblast plasmalemma stain asymmetrically, while other cellular membranes in the idioblast appear symmetrical. Much of the remaining cell volume is occupied by a ramified vacuome and a peripherally displaced nucleus. The plastids of the druse idioblast are markedly different from chloroplasts in adjacent parenchyma cells. The former lack the size, starch grains, and well‐developed grana of the latter. Idioblast mitochondria are similar in quantity and appearance to those of palisade cells, except for a greater number of cristae in the former. Dictyosomes, while rare in mesophyll cells, are quite common in the idioblast. These features suggest that the druse crystal idioblast is metabolically active and not dead at maturity.