Sporopollenin in the cell walls of Coccomyxa and Myrmecia phycobionts of various lichens: an ultrastructural and chemical investigation

1981 ◽  
Vol 59 (12) ◽  
pp. 2713-2734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosmarie Honegger ◽  
Ueli Brunner
Keyword(s):  
Mother Cell ◽  
Cell Walls ◽  
Freeze Fracture ◽  
Thick Layer ◽  
Outer Wall ◽  
Wall Layer ◽  
Middle Part ◽  
Wall Structure ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Ir Spectrophotometry

Symbiotic and cultivated Myrmecia phycobionts of Baeomyces rufus and Coccomyxa phycobionts of five different asco- and basidio-lichens were investigated with cytological and chemical methods. The cell wall structure of the free-living type species Coccomyxa dispar was compared with that of the lichen phycobionts.Three different wall layers were observed in all Coccomyxa and Myrmecia cells investigated. An innermost, variably thick layer is amorphous in structure and is built up mainly by Golgi-derived hemicelluloses. An outer wall layer, uniformly thick, appears electron dense in thin sections and exhibits short, probably cellulosic fibrils embedded in an amorphous matrix in freeze-fracture preparations. Beyond these two wall layers is an outermost trilaminar wall layer of uniform thickness in all species investigated. It contains sporopollenin in its electron-transparent, rigid middle part; proteinlike particles are embedded in an amorphous, carbohydrate-containing matrix on its electron-dense inner and outer surfaces. IR spectrophotometry of acetolysis-resistant material yielded data comparable with those of other sporopollenin-containing algal walls, although the Coccomyxa and Myrmecia sporopollenin did not dissolve in chromic acid. The trilaminar layer is not lysed during or after autospore formation. Persistent mother cell walls were detected in all lichen thalli investigated, as well as in the culture medium of isolated phycobionts. Persistent mother cell walls were also found in the gelatinous sheath of Coccomyxa dispar.This type of wall structure affords protection against fungal parasitism and may be a significant factor in the success of some lichens and some other symbiotic systems.

Microscopy studies of Tilletia teliospore sheaths

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 706-707
Author(s):  
John S. Gardner ◽  
W. M. Hess
Keyword(s):  
Freeze Fracture ◽  
Outer Wall ◽  
Wall Layer ◽  
Wall Structure ◽  
Sample Processing ◽  
Outer Sheath ◽  
Thin Sectioning ◽  
Tilletia Controversa

Teliospores of bunts of wheat and rice have a complex multilayered wall. The outer wall layer or sheath may be absent from some Tilletia controversa teliospores and may be difficult to characterize unless it is hydrated. It may also contain surface rodlets. The sheath has been characterized with freeze fracture and thin sectioning studies. By altering the sample processing procedures and by using thin sectioning the sheath can be used to distinguish T. caries teliospores from T. controversa teliospores which is important for wheat marketing. Earlier attempts were made to distinguish the two species using SEM at low kV settings without the use of special procedures to hydrate the sheath. When many samples of each species were studied, variations in wall structure within species were evident, but at 1-15 kV the electrons penetrated the porous outer sheath and imaged the impermeable exospore layer. The purpose of these investigations was to use SEM to study hydrated sheaths of samples of T. caries and T. controversa teliospores at different kV settings.

Ontogeny and fine structure of effective root nodules of the autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata)

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Newcomb ◽  
Dwight Baker ◽  
John G. Torrey
Keyword(s):  
Cell Wall ◽  
Cell Walls ◽  
Root Nodules ◽  
Freeze Fracture ◽  
Wall Layer ◽  
Void Space ◽  
Elaeagnus Umbellata ◽  
Autumn Olive ◽  
Clear Area ◽  
Glycogen Particles

An ultrastructural study of effective root nodules of the autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata Thunb.) demonstrated the presence of hyphal and vesicular forms of the actinomycete endophyte. No sporangial forms of the endophyte were observed within these nodules. The hyphae contained septa, prominent nucleoid regions, and many ribosomes. The endophytic vesicles were initially nonseptate and then became multichambered as a result of the inward growth of complete and incomplete septa. Glycogen particles were numerous in nonseptate and early stages of septate endophytic vesicle formation and in adjacent hyphae but were absent in more developed stages of septate endophytic vesicles. The endophytic vesicles also contained prominent nucleoid areas, vesicular mesosomes, and crystalline-like striated bodies. A capsule, probably derived from host Golgi cisternae and profiles of dilated rough endoplasmic reticulum, surrounded both forms of the endophyte. The endophytic vesicle cell walls consisted of an outer layer continuous with the hyphal cell wall, a middle clear area or “void space,” and an electron-dense inner layer. The “void space” of the endophyte cell wall was resolved into many thin laminae by freeze–fracture microscopy. The laminae were presumed to be different from the outermost cell wall layer because they were washed out in the solvents used in preparing specimens for the TEM.

The fine structure and development of chlamydospores of Fusarium oxysporum

1972 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 997-1002 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. L. Stevenson ◽  
S. A. W. E. Becker
Keyword(s):  
Endoplasmic Reticulum ◽  
Cell Wall ◽  
Fine Structure ◽  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Cell Surface ◽  
Outer Layer ◽  
Outer Wall ◽  
Wall Layer ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Hyphal Wall

Methods have been developed for the rapid, reproducible induction of high-density populations of F. oxysporum chlamydospores. On transferring washed pregerminated conidia to a simple two-salts medium, chlamydospore morphogenesis was evident by 12 h and masses of mature spores could be harvested at the end of 4 days. Electron-microscope studies of thin sections of mature chlamydospores reveal a thick triple-layered cell wall. The cytoplasm contains, in addition to large lipid deposits, a nucleus, mitochondria, and endoplasmic reticulum all typical of fungal cells. Chlamydospores of F. oxysporum exhibit two distinct types of cell surface in thin section. The outer wall layer of two of the isolates studied was smooth-surfaced while the outer layer of the two other isolates was distinctly fibrillose. Some evidence is presented suggesting that the fibrillose material arises through the partial breakdown of the original hyphal wall.

Ultrastructural studies on the cell walls in Fusarium sulphureum

1979 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward F. Schneider ◽  
Alan B. Wardrop
Keyword(s):  
Cell Walls ◽  
Outer Wall ◽  
Wall Layer ◽  
Additional Treatment ◽  
Degree Of Crystallinity ◽  
Thick Wall ◽  
Wall Material ◽  
Fungal Cell ◽  
Ultrastructural Studies ◽  
Fusarium Sulphureum

The cell walls of Fusarium sulphureum have a microfibrillar component that is randomly arranged. X-ray-diffraction diagrams of the microfibrils are consistent with a high degree of crystallinity and show that they are chitin. The chitin microfibrils of the peripheral walls envelop the hyphal apex and extend across the septae. During the first 8 h in culture, the conversion of conidial cells to chlamydospores is evidenced by a swelling of the cells and the original microfibrils remain randomly arranged. Within 24 h new wall material is deposited as the cells expand and the wall thickens. The new microfibrils are indistinguishable from those of the original conidial cells.After 3 days in culture, the chlamydospores are fully developed and have the characteristic thick wall which is a continuous layer of randomly arranged microfibrils. Chlamydospores maintained in a conversion medium for 8 days have microfibrils identical with those in 3-day-old cultures; thus a further change in the microfibril orientation did not occur during that period.Alkaline hydrolysis of the walls removes most of the electron-dense staining constituents from the inner wall layer and leaves the outer wall layer intact. This treatment also reveals some of the wall microfibrils. An additional treatment of the walls with HAc/H2O2 completely removes the wall components that react positively to heavy metal stains. The results are discussed in relation to the structure of other fungal cell walls.

The fine structure of some strains of Humicola Traaen

1974 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. de Bertoldi ◽  
F. Mariotti ◽  
C. Filippi
Keyword(s):  
Cell Wall ◽  
Fine Structure ◽  
Cell Surface ◽  
Outer Wall ◽  
Wall Layer ◽  
The Other ◽  
Electron Microscopic ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Microscopic Studies

The fine structure of three unclassified strains of Humicola and of H. grisea has been investigated. The hyphae of all the strains show septa with Woronin bodies of the ascomycetous type. The cytoplasm contains many nuclei per cell, mitochondria, ribosomes, and endoplasmic vesicles, all typical of fungal cells. Electron-microscopic studies of thin sections of mature aleuriospores reveal a thick multilayered cell wall and an accumulation, inside the spore, of β-hydroxybutyrate granules. Aleuriospores exhibit different types of cell surface; the outer wall layer of two strains is smooth, while the outer layer of the other strains is rough because of the presence of melanizing bodies on the cell wall matrix. The fine structure of phialospores and microconidia is also described. Differences in the fine structure among the strains studied are reported.

Modes of cell-wall degradation of Sphagnum fuscum by Acremonium cf. curvulum and Oidiodendron maius

2001 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Tsuneda ◽  
M N Thormann ◽  
R S Currah
Keyword(s):  
Cell Walls ◽  
Amorphous Matrix ◽  
Matrix Material ◽  
Outer Wall ◽  
Amorphous Layer ◽  
Wall Layer ◽  
Sphagnum Fuscum ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Oidiodendron Maius ◽  
Wall Components

Electron microscopy of cryo-fractured hyaline leaf cells of Sphagnum fuscum Klinggr. revealed that their cell walls consist of three layers: a thick central layer flanked on either side by a thinner, amorphous layer. Acremonium cf. curvulum W. Gams and Oidiodendron maius Barron, both isolated from partly decomposed S. fuscum plants, were capable of degrading leaf cell walls of Sphagnum. Where hyphae of A. curvulum accumulated, the amorphous, outer wall layer of S. fuscum was first fragmented and then removed. The exposed central wall layer consisted of bundles of microfibrils embedded in an amorphous matrix material. After the matrix material and the inner surface wall layer were mostly removed, degradation of microfibrils occurred and localized voids were produced. Unlike A. cf. curvulum, O. maius degraded all wall components more or less simultaneously. In both fungi, active and autolysing hyphae frequently occurred in proximity on the Sphagnum leaves.Key words: hyphomycetes, peat, phenolics, cellulose, SEM.

Ultrastructure of the dormant and germinating sporangiospore of Phascolomyces articulosus (Mucorales)

1978 ◽  
Vol 56 (7) ◽  
pp. 747-753 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Jeffries ◽  
T. W. K. Young
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Scanning Electron Microscopy ◽  
Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽  
Freeze Fracture ◽  
Spore Wall ◽  
Wall Layer ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Sporangial Wall ◽  
Scanning Electron

Using results obtained with light and scanning electron microscopy of critical-point-dried material and transmission electron microscopy of carbon replicas and freeze-fracture and ultra-thin sections, the structure and germination of the sporangiospore of Phascolomyces articulosus Boedijn is described. The sporangial wall is trilaminate and the ornamented spore wall is two layered. During germination, a new wall layer develops between the plasmalemma and the original spore wall. Sporangial structure is related to that of other members of the Thamnidiaceae and the use of germinating spores of P. articulosus for infection studies of the mycoparasite Piptocephalis unispora is indicated.

Ectodesmata as Revealed By Freeze-Etch Preparations of Plant Epidermal Cell Walls

1973 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 468-469
Author(s):  
N.C. Lyon ◽  
W. C. Mueller
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Acetic Acid ◽  
Nitric Acid ◽  
Oxalic Acid ◽  
Light Microscopy ◽  
Epidermal Cell ◽  
Cell Walls ◽  
Plant Viruses ◽  
Plant Leaves ◽  
Thin Sections

Schumacher and Halbsguth first demonstrated ectodesmata as pores or channels in the epidermal cell walls in haustoria of Cuscuta odorata L. by light microscopy in tissues fixed in a sublimate fixative (30% ethyl alcohol, 30 ml:glacial acetic acid, 10 ml: 65% nitric acid, 1 ml: 40% formaldehyde, 5 ml: oxalic acid, 2 g: mecuric chloride to saturation 2-3 g). Other workers have published electron micrographs of structures transversing the outer epidermal cell in thin sections of plant leaves that have been interpreted as ectodesmata. Such structures are evident following treatment with Hg++ or Ag+ salts and are only rarely observed by electron microscopy. If ectodesmata exist without such treatment, and are not artefacts, they would afford natural pathways of entry for applied foliar solutions and plant viruses.

Gap junctions in the prothoracic glands of the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta

1992 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 706-707
Author(s):  
Ji-da Dai ◽  
M. Joseph Costello ◽  
Lawrence I. Gilbert
Keyword(s):  
Gap Junctions ◽  
Small Molecules ◽  
Manduca Sexta ◽  
Freeze Fracture ◽  
Cell Communication ◽  
Cellular Level ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Prothoracic Glands ◽  
Polyhydroxylated Steroids ◽  
Stimulation Of

Insect molting and metamorphosis are elicited by a class of polyhydroxylated steroids, ecdysteroids, that originate in the prothoracic glands (PGs). Prothoracicotropic hormone stimulation of steroidogenesis by the PGs at the cellular level involves both calcium and cAMP. Cell-to-cell communication mediated by gap junctions may play a key role in regulating signal transduction by controlling the transmission of small molecules and ions between adjacent cells. This is the first report of gap junctions in the PGs, the evidence obtained by means of SEM, thin sections and freeze-fracture replicas.

Exploration of cell wall architecture with the rapid-freeze deep-etch technique

1993 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. 128-129
Author(s):  
Béatrice Satiat-Jeunemaitre ◽  
Chris Hawes
Keyword(s):  
Plant Cell ◽  
Cell Walls ◽  
Cell Biology ◽  
Molecular Model ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Secretory Activity ◽  
Wall Structure ◽  
Specimen Preparation ◽  
Molecular Architecture ◽  
Plant Cell Walls

The comprehension of the molecular architecture of plant cell walls is one of the best examples in cell biology which illustrates how developments in microscopy have extended the frontiers of a topic. Indeed from the first electron microscope observation of cell walls it has become apparent that our understanding of wall structure has advanced hand in hand with improvements in the technology of specimen preparation for electron microscopy. Cell walls are sub-cellular compartments outside the peripheral plasma membrane, the construction of which depends on a complex cellular biosynthetic and secretory activity (1). They are composed of interwoven polymers, synthesised independently, which together perform a number of varied functions. Biochemical studies have provided us with much data on the varied molecular composition of plant cell walls. However, the detailed intermolecular relationships and the three dimensional arrangement of the polymers in situ remains a mystery. The difficulty in establishing a general molecular model for plant cell walls is also complicated by the vast diversity in wall composition among plant species.

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