The development of the embryo sac of sunflower Helianthus annuus before fertilization

1973 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 863-878 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Newcomb

The megaspore mother cell of sunflower Helianthus annuus L. undergoes two meiotic divisions to form a linear tetrad of haploid megaspores. The chalazal megaspore increases in size while the other megaspores and the nucellus degenerate such that the integumentary tapetum is adjacent to the embryo sac. Mitotic divisions occur forming the coenocytic two- and four-nucleate embryo sacs and the seven- or eight-nucleate six-celled embryo sac. Electron-microscopic observations suggest that the antipodals are very active synthetically but start degenerating before fertilization. Similarly the synergids are also apparently very active synthetically before fertilization as judged by the presence of extensive regions of dilated rough endoplasmic reticulum and many Golgi bodies and associated vesicles. The egg cell is characterized by the presence of many free ribosomes and small undifferentiated plastids. The central cell contains many circular strands of rough endoplasmic reticulum, lipid droplets, and large clusters of apparently active Golgi; it is a transfer cell resulting from the presence of embryo sac wall ingrowths. The development and the possible nutritional interrelationships of the megagametophyte and surrounding tissues are discussed.

1969 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles A. Ashley ◽  
Theodore Peters

The sites of synthesis of proteins and their subsequent migration in rat liver have been studied during a 75 min period after labeling of liver-slice proteins by exposure to leucine-H3 for 2 min. Incorporation of the label into protein began after 1 min and was maximal by 4 min. Electron microscopic radioautography showed that synthesis of proteins in hepatocytes occurs mainly on ribosomes, particularly those in rough endoplasmic reticulum and, to some extent, in nuclei and mitochondria. Most of the newly formed proteins leave the endoplasmic reticulum in the course of 40 min, and concurrently labeled proteins appear in Golgi bodies, smooth membranes, microbodies, and lysosomes. A likely pathway for the secretion of some or all plasma proteins is from typical rough endoplasmic reticulum to a zone of reticulum which is partially coated with ribosomes, to the Golgi apparatus, and thence to the cell periphery. The formation of protein by reticuloendothelial cells was measured and found to be about 5% of the total protein formed by the liver.


2014 ◽  
Vol 50 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 165-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. J. Wilms

The egg apparatus of <em>Spinacia</em> was studied from the time the embryo sac reaches its maximal size to just before fertilization, i.e., until about 8-9 hours after pollination. At maturity each synergid has a large elongated nucleus and prominent chalazal vacuoles, Numerous mitochondria, plastids, dictyosomes, free ribosomes, rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER), and lipid bodies are present. The cell wall exists only around the micropylar half of the synergids and each cell has a distinct, striated filiform apparatus. In general, degeneration of one synergid starts after pollination. The egg cell has a spherical nucleus and nucleolus and a large micropylar vacuole. Numerous mitochondria, some plastids with starch grains, dictyosomes, free ribosomes, and HER are present. A continuous cell wall is absent around the chalazal end of the egg cell.


1972 ◽  
Vol 20 (12) ◽  
pp. 1006-1023 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALEX B. NOVIKOFF ◽  
PHYLLIS M. NOVIKOFF ◽  
CLEVELAND DAVIS ◽  
NELSON QUINTANA

A modification of the Novikoff-Goldfischer alkaline 3,3'-diaminobenzidine medium for visualizing peroxisomes is described. It makes possible light microscopic as well as electron microscopic studies of a recently described class of peroxisomes, the microperoxisomes. Potassium cyanide (5 x 10–3 M) is included in the medium to inhibit mitochondrial staining, the pH is 9.7 and there is a high concentration of H2O2 (0.05%). Two cell types have been chosen to illustrate the advantages of the new procedure for demonstrating the microperoxisomes: the absorptive cells in the human jejunum and the distal tubule cells in the guinea pig kidney. Suggestive relations of microperoxisomes and lipid are described in the human jejunum. The microperoxisomes are strategically located between smooth endoplasmic reticulum that radiates toward the organelles and contains lipid droplets and "central domains" of highly specialized endoplasmic reticulum which do not show the lipid droplets. The microperoxisomes are also present at the periphery of large lipid-like drops. In the guinea pig kidney tubule there is a striking difference between the thick limb of Henle and distal tubule. The distal tubule has a population of cells with large numbers of microperoxisomes readily visible by light microscopy; these cells are not present in the thick limb of Henle. Other differences between the two are also described.


1989 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margherita A. Barracco ◽  
Clarice T. Loch

Ultrastructural analyses revealed the presence of six hemocyte types in the hemolymph of Panstrogylus megistus, partially confirming our previous results obtained through light microscopy. Prohemocytes: small, round hemocytes with a thin cytoplasm layer, espcieally rich in free ribosomes and poor in membranous systems. Plasmatocytes: polymorphic cells, whose cytoplasm contains many lysosomes and a well developed rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER).They are extremely phagocytic. Sometimes, they show a large vacuolation. Granulocytes: granular hemocytes whose granules show different degrees of electrondensity. Most of them, have an internal structuration. Coagulocytes: oval or elongated hemocytes, which show pronounced perinuclear cisternae as normally observed in coagulocytes. The cytoplasm is usually electrondense, poor in membranous systems and contains many labile granules. Oenocytoids: large and very stable hemocytes, whose homogeneous cytoplasme is rich in loose ribosomes and poor in membranous systems. Adipohemocytes: large cells, containing several characteristic lipid droplets. The cytoplasm is also rich in glycogen, RER and large mitochondria. The total and differential hemocyte count (THC and DHC) were also calculated for this reduviid. THC increases from 2,900 hemocytes/cubic millimeter of hemolymph in the 4th intar to 4,350 in the 5th and then, decreases to 1,950 in the adults. Plasmatocytes and coagulocytes are the predominant hemocyte types.


1978 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-63
Author(s):  
C.J. Flickinger

The appearance of enzymic activity during the development of the Golgi apparatus was studied by cytochemical staining of renucleated amoebae. In cells enucleated for 4 days, there was a great decline in size and number of Golgi bodies, or dictyosomes. Subsequent renucleation by nuclear transplantation resulted in a regeneration of Golgi bodies. Samples of amoebae were fixed and incubated for cytochemical staining at intervals of 1, 6, or 24 h after renucleation. Enzymes selected for study were guanosine diphosphatase (GDPase), esterase, and thiamine pyrophosphatase (TPPase). All three were found in the Golgi apparatus of normal amoebae but they differed in their overall intracellular distribution. GDPase was normally present at the convex pole of the Golgi apparatus, in rough endoplasmic reticulum, and in the nuclear envelope. In amoebae renucleated for 1 h, light reaction product for GDPase was present throughout the small stacks of cisternae that represented the forming Golgi apparatus. By 6 h following the operation GDPase reaction product was concentrated at the convex pole of the Golgi apparatus. Esterase, which was distributed throughout the stacks of normal Golgi cisternae, displayed a similar distribution in the forming Golgi bodies as soon as they were visible. TPPase was normally present in the Golgi apparatus but was not found in the endoplasmic reticulum. In contrast to the other enzymes, TPPase reaction product was absent from the forming Golgi apparatus 1 and 6 h after renucleation, and did not appear in the Golgi apparatus until 24 h after operation. Thus, enzymes held in common between the rough endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi apparatus were present in the forming Golgi apparatus as soon as it was detectable, but an enzyme cytochemically localized to the Golgi apparatus only appeared later in development of the organelle. It is suggested that Golgi membranes might be derived from the endoplasmic reticulum and thus immediately contain endoplasmic reticulum enzymes, while Golgi-specific enzymes are added later in development.


1966 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shimon Klein ◽  
Yehuda Ben-Shaul

Changes in cell fine structure were studied in axes of green lima bean seeds soaked in water for 1–48 hours. At the beginning of the imbibition period the cortical and pith cells and to a smaller degree the cells of the future conductive tissues contain several vacuoles filled with an amorphous substance. Almost all of the cells contain lipid droplets arranged exclusively along cell walls. The endoplasmic reticulum appears in the form of long tubules, predominantly occupying the peripheral parts of the cell, surrounding the nucleus. A large concentration of ribosomes, mostly unattached, can be found in the cytoplasm. Similar particles make up the bulk of the nucleolus, but could not be found in plastids, which frequently contained starch, but were devoid of internal membranes. Only very few Golgi bodies occur. No changes in fine structure seem to occur during the first 4 hours of imbibition, but after 24 hours the lipid droplets and the vacuolar content have disappeared, the endoplasmic reticulum is more evenly distributed throughout the cells, and a large number of Golgi bodies can be seen.


1995 ◽  
Vol 129 (2) ◽  
pp. 459-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Benlimame ◽  
D Simard ◽  
I R Nabi

Autocrine motility factor (AMF) is secreted by tumor cells and is capable of stimulating the motility of the secreting cells. In addition to being expressed on the cell surface, its receptor, AMF-R, is found within a Triton X-100 extractable intracellular tubular compartment. AMF-R tubules can be distinguished by double immunofluorescence microscopy from endosomes labeled with the transferrin receptor, lysosomes labeled with LAMP-2, and the Golgi apparatus labeled with beta-COP. AMF-R can also be separated from a LAMP-2 containing lysosomal fraction by differential centrifugation of MDCK cells and is found within a 100,000 g membrane pellet. By electron microscopic immunocytochemistry, AMF-R is localized predominantly to smooth vesicular and tubular membranous organelles as well as to a lesser extent to the plasma membrane and rough endoplasmic reticulum. AMF-R tubules have a variable diameter of 50-250 nm and can acquire an elaborate branched morphology. By immunofluorescence microscopy, AMF-R tubules are clearly distinguished from the calnexin labeled rough endoplasmic reticulum and AMF-R tubule expression is stable to extended cycloheximide treatment. The AMF-R tubule is therefore not a biosynthetic subcompartment of the endoplasmic reticulum. The tubular morphology of the AMF-R tubule is modulated by both the actin and microtubule cytoskeletons. In a similar fashion to that described previously for the tubular lysosome and endoplasmic reticulum, the linear extension and peripheral cellular orientation of the AMF-R tubule are dependent on the integrity of the microtubule cytoskeleton. The AMF-R tubule may thus form part of a family of microtubule-associated tubular organelles.


1979 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 75-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Lewis ◽  
David E. Prentice

Summary The fine structure of rhesus monkey renomedullary interstitial cells was studied by electron microscopy. These stellate cells contained variable numbers of lipid droplets, moderate numbers of mitochondria, moderate amounts of rough endoplasmic reticulum, and prominent Golgi zones. In rare instances, apparent release of lipid droplets into the interstitium was observed. The most prominent feature of the interstitial cells was large nuclear pseudoinclusions which were observed in a high proportion of the animals examined.


1972 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 220-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. HADDAD

Radioactive galactose was injected intravenously into rats and localized in thyroid follicular cells by electron microscopic radioautography at intervals ranging from 2.5 to 30 min after injection. The galactose label was mostly present in the Golgi apparatus at 2.5 min, with some of it in the adjacent rough endoplasmic reticulum. By 30 min, the label was found in apical vesicles and colloid. It was concluded that galactose is added to the carbohydrate side chains of incomplete thyroglobulin molecules during their travel through the cisternae of the endoplasmic reticulum into the Golgi apparatus; the uptake begins as this organelle is approached, but predominates within it. The thyroglobulin molecule which has thus been labeled is transported by the apical vesicles to the colloid.


2014 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gönül Algan ◽  
H. Nurhan Bakar

In this study, ultrastructural organization of cells in the mature embryo sac of natural tetraploid <em>Trifolium pratense</em> L. was investigated. The mature embryo sac of this plant contains an egg cell with two synergids at the micropylar end, and a central cell with two polar nuclei. The ultrastructure of these cells agrees with what is known for most angiosperms studied with the electron microscope. The egg cell is a large and highly vacuolate cell, partially surrounded by a wall. Much of the cytoplasm is located around the nucleus at the chalazal end and there are few numbers of channel-shaped endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, plastids and numerous ribosomes distributed throughout the cytoplasm. Unlike the egg cell, much of the cytoplasm in synergid cells is located at micropylar part of the cell and the synergid cytoplasm contains especially, large numbers of rough endoplasmic reticulum, free ribosomes, mitochondria and plastids. The central cell of <em>T. pratense</em> L. contains two large polar nuclei which lie close to the egg apparatus. Each polar nucleus has a single, large, dense nucleolus that contains several nucleolar vacuoles. Much of the central cell cytoplasm consisting of granular and agranular endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, plastids, ribosomes, dictyosomes and lipid bodies are placed around polar nuclei.


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