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SIMS determination of the distribution of the main mineral cations in the depth of the cuticle and the pecto‐cellulosic wall of epidermal cells of flax stems: problems encountered with SIMS depth profiling
Author(s) -
Ripoll Camille,
Jauneau Alain,
Lefèbvre Fabrice,
Demarty Maurice,
Thellier Michel
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
biology of the cell
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.543
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1768-322X
pISSN - 0248-4900
DOI - 10.1016/0248-4900(92)90019-w
Subject(s) - cuticle (hair) , epidermis (zoology) , biology , analytical chemistry (journal) , biophysics , mineralogy , anatomy , chemistry , chromatography
Summary— Depth profiles of C, Na, Mg, Al, K and Ca were performed in the cuticle and wall of epidermal cells of flax hypocotyls, with current densities ranging from 0.2 to 1 pA μm −2 . The crater bottoms were never flat, but exhibited fairly complex, filiform or alveolar structures. The profiles of K, Ca and Mg were reasonably parallel to one another. The Ca/Mg signal ratio was in the magnitude of 3.5 in the cuticle. The Na profile, except perhaps in the cuticle, did not parallel the K, Ca and Mg profiles, but rather paralleled the C profile. At the outset of the depth profiles, ie in the cuticle, the intensity of the Na signal, although fairly variable, was usually above that of K; then there was an abrupt decrease of the Na signal, possibly at the border of the cuticle and of the wall. The Al signal usually began to increase, thus revealing the occurrence of perforations through the epidermis sample, after 80 min sputtering at a current density of 1 pA μm −2 ; the mean sputtering rate was thus estimated to be in the order of 1 μm h −1 .