Summary
An ultrastructural study was made of the leaf tissues of four species of plants in three genera with Crassulacean acid metabolism (“CAM” plants): Kalanchoë daigremontiana Hamet et Perrier, K. verticillata Elliot, Sedum rubrotinctum clausen and Crassula tetragona L. Microbodies similar in appearance, with fibrillar or granular nucleoids but no crystalline deposits, were present in the mesophyll of all four species. The microbodies resembled in size and abundance those of C3 plants more closely than those of C4 plants, both under long-day and short-day conditions. The reaction for catalase activity employing 3,3′-diaminobenzidine produced a heavy deposit in the microbodies; the reaction was blocked by the catalase inhibitor, aminotriazole.
Some of the plants of the two species of Kalanchoë studied contain in the epidermal and mesophyll cells of the leaves and plantlets an organelle-like structure consisting of a hollow cylinder, 90–160 nm in diameter and up to 2 μm or more in length, around which 18–20 or more minute tubules are wound in a steep helix. The tubules are only ca. 9 nm in diameter, hence are much smaller than conventional microtubules. The cylinder and surrounding tubules, herein tentatively assigned the term “microcylinder” for convenience, may represent a product of viral infection, or may be an organelle that appears at certain stages of growth or under particular environmental conditions. In any case it may prove to be of considerable importance for investigators of CAM plant physiology.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Bender, M. M., Rouhani, I., Vines, H. M., Black, C. C., Jr.: 13C/12C Ratio changes in Crassulacean acid metabolism plants. Plant Physiol. 52, 427–430 (1973)
Black, C. C.: Photosynthetic carbon fixation in relation to net CO2 uptake. Ann. Rev. Plant Physiol. 24, 253–286 (1973)
Edwardson, J. R.: Some properties of the potato virus Y-group. Florida Agric. Expt. Stat. Monogr. Ser. No. 4 (1974)
Frederick, S. E., Newcomb, E. H.: Cytochemical localization of catalase in leaf microbodies (peroxisomes). J. Cell Biol. 43, 343–353 (1969)
Frederick, S. E., Newcomb, E. H.: Ultrastructure and distribution of microbodies in leaves of grasses with and without CO2-photorespiration. Planta (Berl.) 96, 152–174 (1971)
Gifford, E. M., Stewart, K. D.: Inclusions of the proplastids and vacuoles in the shoot apices of Bryophyllum and Kalanchoë. Amer. J. Bot. 55, 269–279 (1968)
Jackson, W. A., Volk, R. J.: Photorespiration. Ann. Rev. Plant Physiol. 21, 385–432 (1970)
Kanai, R., Edwards, G. E.: Separation of mesophyll protoplasts and bundle sheath cells from maize leaves for photosynthetic studies. Plant Physiol. 51, 1133–1137 (1973)
Laetsch, W. M.: Chloroplast structural relationships in leaves in C4 plants. In: Photosynthesis and Photorespiration, p. 323–349, Hatch, M. D., Osmond, C. B., Slatyer, R. O., eds. New York: Wiley 1971
Lee, R. E., Thompson, A.: The stromacentre of plastids of Kalanchoë pinnata Persoon. J. Ultrastruct. Res. 42, 451–456 (1973)
Lerman, J. C., Queiroz, O.: Carbon fixation and isotope discrimination by a Crassulacean plant: dependence on the photoperiod. Science 183, 1207 (1974)
Novikoff, A. B., Goldfischer, S.: Visualization of peroxisomes (microbodies) and mitochondria with diaminobenzidine. J. Histochem. Cytochem. 17, 675–680 (1969)
Osmond, C. B., Allaway, W. G., Sutton, B. G., Troughton, J. H., Queiroz, O., Lüttge, U., Winter, K.: Carbon isotope discrimination in photosynthesis of CAM plants. Nature (Lond.) 246, 41–42 (1973)
Rehfeld, D. W., Randall, D. D., Tolbert, N. E.: Enzymes of the glycolate pathway in plants without CO2-photorespiration. Canad. J. Bot. 48, 1219–1226 (1970)
Spurr, A. R.: A low-viscosity epoxy resin embedding medium for electron microscopy. J. Ultrastruct. Res. 26, 31–43 (1969)
Thomson, W. W., Platt, K.: Plastid ultrastructure in the barrel cactus, Echinocactus acanthodes. New Phytol. 72, 791–797 (1973)
Ting, I. P.: Nonautotrophic CO2 fixation and Crassulacean acid metabolism. In: Photosynthesis and Photorespiration; p. 169–185, Hatch, M. D., Osmond C. B., Slatyer, R. O., eds. New York: Wiley 1971
Ting, I. P., Johnson, H. B., Szarek, S. R.: Net CO2 fixation in Crassulacean acid metabolism plants. In: Net carbon dioxide assimilation in higher plants, p. 26–53, Black, C. C., ed. So. Sect. Amer. Soc. Plant Physiologists & Cotton, Inc., Raleigh, N.C., USA 1972
Wilson, H. G., Israel, H. W., Steward, F. C.: Morphogenesis and the fine structure of cultured carrot cells. J. Cell Sci. 15, 57–73 (1974)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Visiting UNESCO Fellow from the Departmen of Botany, University of Delhi, India.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kapil, R.N., Pugh, T.D. & Newcomb, E.H. Microbodies and an anomalous “microcylinder” in the ultrastructure of plants with Crassulacean acid metabolism. Planta 124, 231–244 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00388685
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00388685