Abstract
Cellular and subcellular volumes in mature leaves of spinach (Spinacia oleracea L. US Hybrid 424) were determined stereologically from light and electron micrographs. Forty-nine-day-old leaves of spinach with a total leaf volume of 1177 μL per mg chlorophyll (Chl) were found to be composed of 3% epidermis, 58% mesophyll, 1% vascular tissue, 5% apoplasm and 32% gas space. In the epidermal cells 89% of the volume was occupied by the vacuole. The mesophyll cells consisted, expressed in mg·Chl−1, of 546 μL (79%) vacuole, 66 μL (9.5%) chloroplast stroma, 24 μL (34%) cytosol, 3.7 μL (0.5%) mitochondria and 2.1 μL (0.3%) nucleus. From previous measurements of the subcellular levels of sucrose, of phosphorylated intermediates of carbohydrate metabolism, of malate, oxoglutarate and various amino acids in illuminated leaves, and the above subcellular volumes, the corresponding subcellular metabolite concentrations have been determined. Of the substances measured, only with malate was the concentration higher in the vacuole than in the cytosol. The concentration of sucrose in the cytosol was 5 times, and that of amino acids even 30 times higher than in the vacuole.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Abbreviations
- Chl:
-
chlorophyll
References
Delesse, M.A. (1847) Procédé mecanique pour determiner la composition des roches. C. R. Acad. Sci. (Paris)25, 544
Fliege, R., Flügge, U.I., Werdan, K., Heldt, H.W. (1978) Specific transport of inorganic phosphate, 3-phosphoglycerate and triosephosphates across the inner membrane of the envelope in spinach chloroplasts. Biochim. Biophys Acta502, 232–247
Gerhardt, R., Heldt, H.W. (1984) Measurement of subcellular metabolite levels in leaves by fractionation of freeze-stopped material in nonaqueous media. Plant Physiol.75, 542–547
Gerhardt, R., Stitt, M., Heldt, H.W. (1987) Subcellular metabolite levels in spinach leaves. Regulation of sucrose synthesis during diurnal alterations in photosynthetic partition. Plant Physiol.83, 399–407
Heineke, D., Wildenberger, K., Sonnewald, U., Willmitzer, L., Heldt, H.W. (1994) Accumulation of hexoses in leaf vacules, studies with transgenic tobacco plants expresing yeast-derived invertase in the cytosol, vacuole or apoplasm. Planta, in press
Heldt, H.W., Sauer, F. (1971) The inner membrane of the chloroplast envelope as the site of specific metabolite transport. Biochim. Biophys. Acta234, 83–91
Martinoia, E., Heck, U., Wiemken, A. (1980) Vacuoles as storage compartments for nitrate in barley leaves. Nature289, 292–294
Martinoia, E., Flügge, U.-I., Kaiser, G., Heber, U., Heldt, H.W. (1985) Energy-dependent uptake of malate into vacuoles isolated from barley mesophyll protoplasts. Biochim. Biophys. Acta806, 311–319
Riens, B., Lohaus, G., Heineke, D., Heldt, H.W. (1991) Amino acid and sucrose content determined in the cytosolic, chloroplastic and vacuolar compartment and in the phloem sap of spinach leaves. Plant Physiol.97, 227–233
Speer, M., Kaiser, W.M. (1991) Ion relations of symplastic and apoplastic space in leaves fromSpinacia oleracea L. andPisum sativum L. under salinity. Plant Physiol.97, 990–997
Steer, M.W. (1981) Understanding cell ultrastructure. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, UK
Weiner, H., Heldt, H.W. (1992) Inter- and intracellular distribution of amino acids and other metabolites in maize (Zea mays L.) leaves. Planta187, 242–246
Winter, H., Lohaus, G., Heldt, H.W. (1992) Phloem transport of amino acids and sucrose depending on the corresponding metabolite levels in the leaves of barley. Plant Physiol.99, 996–1004
Winter, H., Robinson, D.G., Heldt, H.W. (1993) Subcellular volumes and metabolite concentrations in barley leaves. Planta191, 180–190
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Winter, H., Robinson, D.G. & Heldt, H.W. Subcellular volumes and metabolite concentrations in spinach leaves. Planta 193, 530–535 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02411558
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02411558