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THE ULTRASTRUCTURE OF THE DEVELOPING SOROPHORE OF MARSILEA VESTITA
Author(s) -
Bilderback D. E.
Publication year - 1978
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.1537-2197.1978.tb06120.x
Subject(s) - vacuole , cytoplasm , ultrastructure , polysaccharide , biology , cell wall , vesicle , microbiology and biotechnology , biophysics , botany , biochemistry , membrane
In the young sporocarp of Marsilea vestita , the sorophore tissue consists of vacuolate parenchymatous cells. The vacuoles contain electron‐dense bodies which disappear as the cells enlarge. During the differentiation of the sorophore cells, there are three phases of polysaccharide accumulation. During the first phase, speroidal carbohydrate bodies accumulate in vesicles and vacuoles of the peripheral cytoplasm. Globular carbohydrate bodies which are interconnected by strands of polysaccharide appear in the central vacuole during the second phase. The third phase begins with the appearance of strands of polysaccharide radiating out into the central vacuole from the tonoplast. As the sorophore cells mature, the central vacuoles become filled with this fibrous polysaccharide. The cytoplasm ultimately degenerates leaving behind dispersed globular carbohydrate and fibrous polysaccharide. When the mature sporocarp is scarified and placed in water, the hygroscopic polysaccharide in the sorophore cells expands and stretches the cell walls. As a result, the sorophore is transformed into a long column many times its original length.