Premium
SECRETORY CELLS OF LILY PISTILS. II. ELECTRON MICROSCOPE CYTOCHEMISTRY OF CANAL CELLS
Author(s) -
Dashek W. V.,
Thomas H. R.,
Rosen W. G.
Publication year - 1971
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.1537-2197.1971.tb10046.x
Subject(s) - cytochemistry , secretion , biology , electron microscope , ultrastructure , biophysics , cell wall , pectin , cellulose , microbiology and biotechnology , anatomy , biochemistry , optics , physics
The secretory cells which line the canal of Lilium longiflorum pistils possess, on the side facing the canal, an elaborate wall which, with associated structures, Rosen and Thomas (1970) termed the “secretion zone.” We examined the secretion zone in the electron microscope following treatment of excised pistil slices with extraction procedures which remove pectin, hemicellulose, cellulose, lipid, or protein. The outer, fibrillar wall (layer 1) of the secretion zone contains protein, pectin, and cellulose. Internal to layer 1 is a granular‐fibrillar wall (layer 2) several microns thick. It consists of outer and inner regions which can be distinguished from each other cytochemically. The granular component is composed of pectin which is not esterified with methyl groups and which may be complexed with protein. The short, randomly dispersed microfibrils of layer 2 were sensitive to procedures which dissolve cellulose. The extraction procedures did not reveal the chemical nature of the “osmiophilic islands” of layer 2. Paramural body membranes appear to be composed of glycoprotein and may function in secretion by serving as sites of pinocytic interchange at the plasmalemma. The origin of stigmatic exudate and the release of canal cell secretion product are discussed.