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CAM activity and day/night changes in the ultrastructure of stem chlorenchyma of Cissus quadrangularis L. as influenced by drought
Author(s) -
SANTO A. VIRZO,
LIGRONE R.,
ALFANI A.,
FIORETTO A.,
RUSSO G.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
plant, cell and environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.646
H-Index - 200
eISSN - 1365-3040
pISSN - 0140-7791
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3040.1984.tb01563.x
Subject(s) - photosynthesis , ultrastructure , thylakoid , starch , botany , biology , horticulture , fragmentation (computing) , chlorophyll , stem and leaf display , chloroplast , chemistry , food science , biochemistry , ecology , gene
Stem chlorenchymatous cells from well‐watered and water‐stressed plants of Cissus quadrangularis L. were examined to evaluate the effect of drying on cell structure and metabolism. At a stem relative water content as low as 52‐58%, cellular integrity was maintained, but some qualitative and quantitative alterations occurred. Chlorophyll coment was higher in stressed plants, and the intact photosynthetic apparatus exhibited an increased degree of thylakoid stacking paralleled by a lower chlorophyll a/h ratio. Overnight malate accumulation was very low. Starch was retained but its day/night fluctuation was practically suppressed. Plastosomes were smaller and fewer, and the range of their daily fluctuation was very reduced. Vacuoles underwent fragmentation and accumulated osmiophilic deposits. The maintenance of the cellular integrity accounts for the ability of C. quadrangularis to recover rapidly from water stress.