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Polysaccharide and protein secretion by grass microhairs

A cytochemical study at light and electron microscopic levels

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Summary

Secretory activities of bicellular microhairs from grasses belonging to the subfamilies Chloridoideae, Arundinoideae, Panicoideae, and Bambusoideae, and including the “chloridoid”, “panicoid” and “Enneapogon” microhair morphological types, have been investigated. Light microscopic histochemistry indicated that all microhairs studied secrete polysaccharide and protein (or glycoprotein), including those which also secrete salt. Localization of polysaccharide at ultrastructural level using periodic acid-thiocarbohydrazidesilver proteinate staining revealed that in “panicoid type” microhairs dictyosomes are involved in polysaccharide secretion, whereas in the “chloridoid” and “Enneapogon” types “partitioning membranes” seem to be involved instead.

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Abbreviations

Ag:

silver precipitates representing localization of polysaccharide

BC:

basal cell

C:

cuticle

CC:

cap cell

CH:

cuticular chamber

CN:

system of membrane bound channels and vesicles

CP:

chloroplast

CW:

cell wall

D:

dictyosomes

M:

mitochondria

N:

nucleus

PTM:

partitioning membranes

RER:

rough endoplasmic reticulum

S:

secretory material

St:

starch grain

US:

unstained dictyosome cisternae

V:

vesicle

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Author notes

  1. Vindhya Amarasinghe

    Present address: Department of Biology, Kent State University, 44242, Kent, OH, USA

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  1. Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Vindhya Amarasinghe

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Amarasinghe, V. Polysaccharide and protein secretion by grass microhairs. Protoplasma 156, 45–56 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01666505

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01666505

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