Abstract
Rehydration of desiccated Cuphea seeds results in a rapid morphological change in the seed. Within 20 min thread like epidermal hairs are present on the seed surface. The hairs, which are highly ordered helical structures, are present in the epidermal cells of the desiccated seed. Following emergence the hairs increase in length by means of an eversion process, the mechanism for which is proposed in the text. The hairs were purified to homogeneity and found to be composed of 55% carbohydrate and 45% protein. Following β-elimination of the carbohydrate using NaOH/NaBH4 one major protein of MW 31,000 was seen upon polacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecylsulphate. The protein, here termed helexin, probably plays a major structural role in determining the helical shape of the hairs.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Albersheim, P. (1976) The primary cell wall. In: Plant biochemistry, 3rd edn., pp. 225–274, Bonner, J. Verner, J.E. eds., Academic Press, New York London
Bhatti, T., Chambers, R.E., Clamp, J.R. (1970) The gas chromatographic properties of biologically important N-acetylglucosamine derivatives, monosaccharides, disaccharides, trisaccharides, tetrasaccharides and pentasaccharides. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 222, 339–347
Correns, C. (1892) Über die Epidermis der Samen von Cuphea viscosissima Ber. Dtsch. Bot. Ges. X, 143–152
Dubois, M., Gilles, K.A., Hamilton, J.K., Rebers, P.A., Smith, F. (1956) Colorimetric method for determination of sugars and related substances. Anal. Chem. 28, 350–356
Fairbanks, G., Steck, T.L., Wallach, D.F.H. (1971) Electrophoretic analysis of the major polypeptides of the human erythocyte membrane. Biochemistry 10, 2607–2617
Graham, S.A., Hirsinger, F., Röbbelen, G. (1981) Cuphea seed lipids and their systematic significance. Am. J. Bot. 31, 244–246
Koehne, E. (1877) Verh. Bot. Ver. Prov. Brandenburg 20, XX. Sitzungsber. 52–53
Laemmli, U.K., (1970) Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of bacteriophage T4. Nature (London) 227, 680–685
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Stubbs, J.M., Slabas, A.R. Ultrastructural and biochemical characterization of the epidermal hairs of the seeds of Cuphea procumbens . Planta 155, 392–399 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00394467
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00394467