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Leaf wax fine structure and ontogeny in Eucalyptus demonstrated by means of a specialized fixation technique
Author(s) -
Hallam N. D.
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
journal of microscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.569
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2818
pISSN - 0022-2720
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2818.1970.tb02245.x
Subject(s) - wax , cuticle (hair) , glutaraldehyde , electron microscope , vesicle , cell wall , botany , paraffin wax , materials science , chemistry , biophysics , biology , anatomy , chromatography , composite material , biochemistry , membrane , physics , optics
SUMMARY The epidermal cells of Eucalyptus leaves are not well preserved by the conventional sectioning methods used for electron microscopy. More satisfactory preservation results from the use of an in vivo perfusion technique using glutaraldehyde or glutaraldehyde‐formaldehyde mixtures. This technique preserves wax on the cuticle surface, rendering it insoluble in the organic solvents used for dehydration and embedding in epoxy resins. Using this method, no direct connection is apparent between leaf wax, cuticle, cell wall and cytoplasm. The Golgi bodies appear to produce vesicles which migrate only in the direction of the outer cell wall, and which might liberate wax precursors into the wall, from where they could diffuse through cuticular lamell to polymerize or oxidize at the leaf surface as waxes of characteristic morphology.