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High-resolution electron microscopy on ultrathin sections of cellulose microfibrils generated by glomerulocytes in Polyzoa vesiculiphora

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Summary

Glomerulocyte cellulosic bundles of Polyzoa vesiculiphora were investigated by microdiffraction and high-resolution electron microscopy. In each bundle, hundreds of cellulose microfibrils, having a rectangular cross-sectional shape, are packed regularly with their 0.6 nm lattice planes parallel to each other. Lattice images reveal that the 0.6 nm plane is parallel to the longer edge of the cross section which is similar to the lattice organization of cellulose with a squarish cross section in Valonia spp. More interestingly, all the microfibrils in a bundle have the same directionality of crystallographic c-axis, which suggests that the biosynthesis of the microfibrils within particular bundle occurs unidirectionally.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wood Research Institute, Kyoto University, Kyoto

    W. Helbert, J. Sugiyama, S. Kimura & T. Itoh

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  1. W. Helbert
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  2. J. Sugiyama
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  3. S. Kimura
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  4. T. Itoh
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Helbert, W., Sugiyama, J., Kimura, S. et al. High-resolution electron microscopy on ultrathin sections of cellulose microfibrils generated by glomerulocytes in Polyzoa vesiculiphora . Protoplasma 203, 84–90 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01280590

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01280590

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