A study of the mature megagametophyte of Stipa elmeri

1975 ◽  
Vol 53 (24) ◽  
pp. 2958-2977 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack Maze ◽  
Shu-Chang Lin
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Endoplasmic Reticulum ◽  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Pollen Tube ◽  
Endosperm Development ◽  
Pollen Grain ◽  
Central Cell ◽  
Filiform Apparatus ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Dense Cytoplasm

In Stipa elmeri Piper & Brodie ex Scribn., the pollen tube enters at the filiform apparatus of the degenerated synergid. The degenerated synergid has electron-dense cytoplasm in which organelles are not discernible. All other cells of the mature megagametophyte have nuclei, endoplasmic reticulum, plastids, mitochondria, dictyosomes, and vacuoles. Starch is found in the persistent synergid (in minute quantities), egg, and central cell. Lipids occur in the persistent synergid, central cell, and antipodals. The filiform apparatuses of the two synergids are hypothesized to perform different functions. In the degenerated synergid, the filiform apparatus serves to increase the surface area of the plasma membrane and thereby to offer a large area for pollen-tube-growth-directing compounds to diffuse out of the synergid. In the persistent synergid, the filiform apparatus is part of a suite of features which indicate that the persistent synergid is involved in the transference of materials into the megagametophyte. Another possible function of the persistent synergid is to aid in establishing the polarity of the egg. The pollen grain and tube have distinctive polysaccharide spheres that serve to delimit the pollen tube cytoplasm after discharge into the degenerated synergid. Associated with the degenerated synergid are bodies of dense materials as seen under electron microscopy, and bodies of RNA and protein as determined histochemically. These are probably the same thing and come from the degenerating synergid. The antipodals are the most cytologically active cells of the megagametophyte. They have some features which are characteristic of transfer cells and possibly function in the transference of materials into the megagametophyte. Other studies (Brink and Cooper 1944) have indicated that grass antipodals are involved in the control of endosperm development. The active cytoplasm of the antipodals may reflect the synthesis or transference of growth-controlling substances.

Embryology of Brassica campestris: the entrance and discharge of the pollen tube in the synergid and the formation of the zygote

1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (8) ◽  
pp. 1577-1590 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Sumner
Keyword(s):  
Endoplasmic Reticulum ◽  
Cell Wall ◽  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Pollen Tube ◽  
Brassica Campestris ◽  
Periodic Acid ◽  
Outer Integument ◽  
Central Cell ◽  
Egg Cell ◽  
Intense Staining

The postanthesis synergids and zygote of Brassica campestris cv. Candle were examined using techniques of light, fluorescence, and electron microscopy. The pollen tube enters the degenerate synergid by way of the filiform apparatus. A degeneration of one of the two synergids occurs after anthesis and is independent of pollination. The first sign of synergid degeneration is a more intense staining of one of the synergids, followed by a loss of organelle membrane integrity. There is a disappearance of the plasma membrane and dictyosome cisternae; however, profiles of degenerate synergid mitochondria, plastids, and dilated endoplasmic reticulum remain along with dictyosome vesicles that contain periodic acid – thiocarbo-hydrazide – silver proteinate positive substances. The zygote, shortly after fertilization, is reduced in size and lacks the large micropylar vacuole characteristic of the mature unfertilized egg cell. Plastids and mitochondria are concentrated around the centrally located nucleus of the zygote, and dictyosomes, active in vesicle production, are located in the lateral and chalazal regions of the cell, adjacent to the cell wall. The lateral cell walls are periodic acid – Schiff's and Calcofluor positive, while the ampulliform chalazal tip of the cell is weakly periodic acid – Schiff s positive and Calcofluor negative. Microtubules, with the long axis perpendicular to the long axis of the zygote, are abundant in the ampulliform chalazal tip of the cell. Following fertilization the central cell becomes highly vacuolate. There is continuity between the zygote – central cell plasma membrane, the central cell vacuole tonoplast, and membranes of the central cell endoplasmic reticulum. Central cell wall projections, of the transfer cell type, are located in the lateral regions of the megagametophyte adjacent to the developing zygote cell and are positioned adjacent to the region of inner and outer integument starch. Key words: Brassica, ultrastructure, synergid, megagametophyte, pollen tube, zygote.

Triple Fixation For Electron Microscopy

1968 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 90-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Hayat
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Endoplasmic Reticulum ◽  
Electron Beam ◽  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Myelin Sheath ◽  
Good Deal ◽  
Granular Structure ◽  
Oxidizing Agent ◽  
Fixation Technique ◽  
Large Clusters

Potassium permanganate has been successfully employed to study membranous structures such as endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi, plastids, plasma membrane and myelin sheath. Since KMnO4 is a strong oxidizing agent, deposition of manganese or its oxides account for some of the observed contrast in the lipoprotein membranes, but a good deal of it is due to the removal of background proteins either by dehydration agents or by volatalization under the electron beam. Tissues fixed with KMnO4 exhibit somewhat granular structure because of the deposition of large clusters of stain molecules. The gross arrangement of membranes can also be modified. Since the aim of a good fixation technique is to preserve satisfactorily the cell as a whole and not the best preservation of only a small part of it, a combination of a mixture of glutaraldehyde and acrolein to obtain general preservation and KMnO4 to enhance contrast was employed to fix plant embryos, green algae and fungi.

Anatomy of the Unpollinated and Pollinated Watermelon Stigma

1982 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 341-355
Author(s):  
M. SEDGLEY
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Endoplasmic Reticulum ◽  
Light And Electron Microscopy ◽  
Freeze Fracture ◽  
Pollen Grain ◽  
Acidic Polysaccharides ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Em Autoradiography ◽  
Pollen Grain Wall ◽  
Stigma Secretion

The structure of the watermelon stigma before and after pollination was studied using light and electron microscopy, freeze-fracture and autoradiography. The wall thickenings of the papilla transfer cells contained callose and their presence prior to pollination was confirmed using EM-autoradiography, freeze-fracture and fixation. No further callose thickenings were produced following pollination. Pollination resulted in a rapid increase in aqueous stigma secretion and localized disruption of the cuticle, which appeared to remain on the surface of the secretion. Autolysis of the papilla cells, which had commenced prior to pollination, was accelerated and appeared to take place via cup-shaped vacuoles developed from distended endoplasmic reticulum. The reaction was localized to the papilla cells adjacent to the pollen tube only. Both pollen-grain wall and stigma secretion contained proteins, carbohydrates, acidic polysaccharides, lipids and phenolics.

scholarly journals Pollen, Tapetum, and Orbicule Development inColletia paradoxaandDiscaria americana(Rhamnaceae)

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Gotelli ◽  
B. Galati ◽  
D. Medan
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽  
Endoplasmic Reticulum ◽  
Pollen Grains ◽  
Pollen Grain ◽  
Ultrastructural Changes ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
The Family ◽  
Tapetal Cells ◽  
Grain Formation

Tapetum, orbicule, and pollen grain ontogeny inColletia paradoxaandDiscaria americanawere studied with transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The ultrastructural changes observed during the different stages of development in the tapetal cells and related to orbicule and pollen grain formation are described. The proorbicules have the appearance of lipid globule, and their formation is related to the endoplasmic reticulum of rough type (ERr). This is the first report on the presence of orbicules in the family Rhamnaceae. Pollen grains are shed at the bicellular stage.

Formation of chlamydospores in Gilbertella persicaria

1981 ◽  
Vol 59 (5) ◽  
pp. 908-928 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha J. Powell ◽  
Charles E. Bracker ◽  
David J. Sternshein
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Endoplasmic Reticulum ◽  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Acid Phosphatase ◽  
Light And Electron Microscopy ◽  
Multivesicular Bodies ◽  
Marker Enzyme ◽  
Transparent Layer ◽  
Thiamine Pyrophosphatase ◽  
Gilbertella Persicaria

The cytological events involved in the transformation of vegetative hyphae of the zygomycete Gilbertella persicaria (Eddy) Hesseltine into chlamydospores were studied with light and electron microscopy. Thirty hours after sporangiospores were inoculated into YPG broth, swellings appeared along the aseptate hyphae. Later, septa, traversed by plasmodesmata, delimited each end of the hyphal swellings and compartmentalized these hyphal regions as they differentiated into chlamydospores. Nonswollen regions adjacent to chlamydospores remained as isthmuses. Two additional wall layers appeared within the vegetative wall of the developing chlamydospores. An alveolate, electron-dense wall formed first, and then an electron-transparent layer containing concentrically oriented fibers formed between this layer and the plasma membrane. Rather than a mere condensation of cytoplasm, development and maturation of the multinucleate chlamydospores involved extensive cytoplasmic changes such as an increase in reserve products, lipid and glycogen, an increase and then disappearance of vacuoles, and the breakdown of many mitochondria. Underlying the plasma membrane during chlamydospore wall formation were endoplasmic reticulum, multivesicular bodies, vesicles with fibrillar contents, vesicles with electron-transparent contents, and cisternal rings containing the Golgi apparatus marker enzyme, thiamine pyrophosphatase. Acid phosphatase activity was localized cytochemically in a cisterna which enclosed mitochondria and in vacuoles which contained membrane fragments. Tightly packed membrane whorls and single membrane bounded sacs with finely granular matrices surrounding vacuoles were unique during chlamydospore development. Microbodies were rare in the mature chlamydospore, but endoplasmic reticulum was closely associated with lipid globules. As chlamydospores developed, the cytoplasm in the isthmus became highly vacuolated, lipid globules were closely associated with vacuoles, mitochondria were broken down in vacuoles, unusual membrane configurations appeared, and eventually the membranes degenerated. Unlike chlamydospores, walls of the isthmus did not thicken, but irregularly shaped appositions containing numerous channels formed at intervals on the inside of these walls. The pattern of cytoplasmic transformations during chlamydospore development is similar to events leading to the formation of zygospores and sporangiospores.

Development of the lateral palatal brush in larvae of Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae)

1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (7) ◽  
pp. 1454-1467 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. M. Fry ◽  
S. B. McIver
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Endoplasmic Reticulum ◽  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Golgi Apparatus ◽  
Aedes Aegypti ◽  
Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum ◽  
Light And Electron Microscopy ◽  
Fourth Instar ◽  
Muscle Fibres ◽  
Final Length

Light and electron microscopy were used to observe development of the lateral palatal brush in Aedes aegypti (L.) larvae. Development was sampled at 4-h intervals from second- to third-instar ecdyses. Immediately after second-instar ecdysis, the epidermis apolyses from newly deposited cuticle in the lateral palatal pennicular area to form an extensive extracellular cavity into which the fourth-instar lateral palatal brush filaments grow as cytoplasmic extensions. On reaching their final length, the filaments deposit cuticulin, inner epicuticle, and procuticle sequentially on their outer surfaces. The lateral palatal crossbars, on which the lateral palatal brush filaments insert, form after filament development is complete. At the beginning of development, the organelles involved in plasma membrane and cuticle production are located at the base and middle of the cells. As the filament rudiments grow, most rough endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, and Golgi apparatus move to the apex of the epidermal cells and into the filament rudiments. After formation of the lateral palatal brush filaments and lateral palatal crossbars, extensive organelle breakdown occurs. Lateral palatal brush formation is unusual in that no digestion and resorption of old endocuticle occurs prior to deposition of new cuticle. No mucopolysaccharide secretion by the lateral palatal brush epidermis was observed, nor were muscle fibres observed to attach to the lateral palatal crossbars, as has been suggested by other workers.

scholarly journals ELECTRON MICROSCOPY OF ORAL CELLS IN VITRO

1968 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 443-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Kumegawa ◽  
M. Cattoni ◽  
George G. Rose
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Endoplasmic Reticulum ◽  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Cell Contact ◽  
Intercellular Contact ◽  
Kb Cells ◽  
Contact Areas ◽  
Subsurface Region ◽  
Oral Cells

Two special areas involving membranous components in strain KB cells were studied by electron microscopy. The first area described is that of the subsurface regions of two apposing cells in which flattened cisternae (one cisternae in each subsurface region) with membranes spaced 110–230 A apart were found in a confrontation alignment. The long dimension of the profiles of these cisternae ranges from 0.5 to 2 µ. At these intercellular contact areas, each cisterna is closely applied to the adjacent plasma membrane; the intervening space is 60–100 A. We have named the cisternae in these roughly symmetrical areas of cell contact the subsurface confronting cisternae. Communications between these cisternae and those of the rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum also were observed. The second area described is that of the intracytoplasmic confronting cisternae. These cisternae were observed as oval or round images about 0.3–1.4 µ in diameter, each image being composed of a pair of concentrically arranged confronting cisternae with membranes spaced 200–400 A apart. The apposing membranes of the two confronting cisternae are electron opaque, smooth, and free of ribosomes, whereas the unapposed membranes are less dense, scalloped, and associated with ribosomes. The spacing between the two intracytoplasmic confronting cisternae is 70–110 A.

scholarly journals Canine Cutaneous Histiocytoma A Light and Electron Microscopic Study

1970 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. F. Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Endoplasmic Reticulum ◽  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Acid Phosphatase ◽  
Microscopic Study ◽  
Mononuclear Cell ◽  
Electron Microscopic Study ◽  
Light And Electron Microscopy ◽  
Perinuclear Region ◽  
Electron Microscopic

Cutaneous histiocytomas from 4 dogs were examined by light and electron microscopy. A large (up to 10 μ in diameter) mononuclear cell with prominent filiform processes of the plasma membrane predominated. Its cytoplasm contained relatively small amounts of endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria, only occasional lysosomes, fibrils, most obvious in the perinuclear region, and small amounts of cytoplasmic debris. Acid phosphatase was not detected. Fibroblasts and collagen formed a small part of the lesion, except at the junction with surrounding dermis, where fibers were plentiful. The morphologic features of the lesion are compatible with the suggestion that the predominant cell is of histiocytic type.

scholarly journals UNE FORME MICROTUBULAIRE ET PARACRISTALLINE DE RETICULUM ENDOPLASMIQUE DANS LES PHOTOCYTES DES ANNELIDES POLYNOINÆ

1966 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Bassot
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Endoplasmic Reticulum ◽  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Fine Structure ◽  
Nuclear Envelope ◽  
Contact Surface ◽  
Special Kind ◽  
The Other ◽  
Cytoplasmic Organelle ◽  
Specialized Form

Luminous cells of polynoid worm elytra have been examined by methods of electron microscopy, with special attention focused on the fine structure of photogenic grains. These cells send apical prolongations into the mid-part of the elytra. The plasma membrane is very sinuous, and a special kind of desmosome links two portions of the same membrane. In addition to all the organelles which can be found in nonluminescent epithelial cells of the elytra, numerous photogenic grains are contained in their cytoplasm. These grains are composed of undulating microtubules measuring 200 A in diameter; their disposition in the grain is highly regular, and the grains appear as paracrystals. At the borders of the grains, the walls of the microtubules are often in continuity with those of the endoplasmic reticulum and with the external membrane of the nuclear envelope. Because of this fact, the microtubules of the grains may be considered a cytoplasmic organelle, representing a specialized form of the endoplasmic reticulum. The microtubules permit the repartition, inside and outside their walls, of two different products, one being forty-three times more abundant than the other; thus, the contact surface, in comparison to the volume, is greatly increased. The induction of the luminous reaction by change in the permeability of the microtubule walls, allowing contact between the two substances, is suggested as a working hypothesis. There is an evolution of the grains along the axis of the photocytes. The grains are often surrounded by progressively increasing amounts of glycogen. Their paracrystalline disposition is altered at the apex of the luminous cells.

scholarly journals Electron Microscopy of the Ovary of Fasciola Hepatica

1964 ◽  
Vol s3-105 (70) ◽  
pp. 213-218
Author(s):  
R. A. R. GRESSON
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Endoplasmic Reticulum ◽  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Nuclear Envelope ◽  
Fasciola Hepatica ◽  
Amorphous Material ◽  
Primary Oocyte ◽  
Intercellular Region ◽  
Narrow Bridge ◽  
Peripheral Cytoplasm

The external wall of the ovary of Fasciola hepatica is a membrane-like structure in contact with a non-cellular material in the ovary. An intercellular region containing an amorphous material of moderate electron density is present in the ovary. The primary oocytes are provided with peripheral processes that extend into the intercellular region. The oocytes do not proceed beyond the prophase of the first meiotic division until after they leave the ovary. The nucleolus of the primary oocyte contains vacuole-like areas and emits granular material to the nucleoplasm; some of this material may move to the cytoplasm. Pores are present in the nuclear envelope. In older oocytes narrow bridge-like structures connect the nucleolus and the nuclear envelope. The nuclear envelope of the primary oocyte undergoes replication. It is continuous with the endoplasmic reticulum and the plasma membrane. The location of the mitochondria is correlated with the phases of growth of oogonia and oocytes. The mitochondria possess irregularly arranged cristae. Small, round or oval nutritive bodies are present in the peripheral cytoplasm of older oocytes. It is suggested that areas of relatively high density containing vacuole-like structures represent the Golgi complex.

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