Abstract
Freeze fractures of the plasmalemma membranes of guard-cell and mesophyll protoplasts of Vicia faba demonstrate that the inner monolayer of the plasmalemma is compartmentalized into areas with distinct, highly organized structures. Between areas of intramembranous particles dispersed randomly on a relatively smooth fracture face, membrane domains showing an extremely regular planar, hexagonal array of particles are interspersed. The dimensions of these hexagonal lattices are about 0.5 μm in diameter, the center-to-center spacing is about 22 nm, and the particle size is about 9 nm. The particle in the hexagonal arrays are accompanied by complementary pits in the opposite monolayer fracture of the plasmalemma membrane.
The freeze-fracture preparation was performed by using an improved Leybold Bioetch device which provides a sufficiently high cooling rate and allows the omission of cryoprotectants, like glycerol.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barnett, J.R., Preston, R.D.: Arrays of granules associated with the plasmalemma in Swarmers of Clodophora. Ann. Bot. 34, 1011–1017 (1970)
Blaurock, A.E., Stoeckenius, W.: Structure of the purple membrane. Nature (London) 233, 152–155 (1971)
Branton, D.: Fracture faces of frozen membranes. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 55, 1048–1056 (1966)
Branton, D., Bullivant, St., Gilula, N.B., Karnovsky, M.J., Moor, H., Mühlethaler, K., Northcote, D.H., Packer, L., Satir, B., Satir, P., Speth, V., Staehelin, L.A., Steere, R.L., Weinstein, R.S.: Freeze-etching nomeclature. Science 190, 54–56 (1975)
Briarty, L.G.: Repeating particles associated with membranes of transfer cells. Planta 113, 373–377 (1973)
Chlapowsky, F.J., Bonneville, M.A., Staehelin, L.A.: Lumenal plasma membrane of the urinary bladder. II. Isolation and structure of membrane components. J. Cell Biol. 53, 92–104 (1972)
Friend, D.S., Gilula, N.B.: Variations in tight and gap junctions in mammalian tissues. J. Cell Biol. 53, 758–776 (1972)
Gross, H., Bass, E., Moor, H.: Freeze-fracturing in ultrahigh vacuum at-196°C. J. Cell Biol. 76, 712–728 (1978)
Henderson, R.: The purple membrane from Halobacterium halobium. Annu. Rev. Biophys. Bioenerg. 6, 87–109 (1977)
Hsiao, T.C.: Stomatal ion transport. In: Transport in Plants II, Part B: Tissues and Organs, p. 195–221. Lüttge, U., Pitman, M.G., eds. Berlin, Heidelberg, New York: Springer 1976
Johnson, R., Hammer, M., Sheridan, J., Revel, J.-P.: Gap junction formation between reaggregated Novikoff Hepatoma cells. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 71, 4536–4540 (1974)
Läuchli, A.: Apoplasmic transport in tissues. In: Transport in Plants II, Part B, p. 3–34 Lüttge, U., Pitman, M.G., eds. Berlin, Heidelberg, New York: Springer 1976
Mc Nutt, N.S., Weinstein, R.S.: The ultrastructure of the nexus. A correlated thin-section and freeze-cleave study. J. Cell Biol. 47, 666–688 (1970)
Meyer, H.W., Winkelmann, H.: Über die Anordung der Membranproteine nach Untersuchungen mit der Gefrierätzung an isolierten Erythrozytenmembranen. Protoplasma 75, 255–284 (1972)
Moor, H., Mühlethaler, K.: Fine structure in frozen etched yeast cells. J. Cell Biol. 17, 609–628 (1963)
Pallas, J.E., Jr., Mollenhauer, H.H.: Physiological implications of Vicia faba and Nocothiana tabacum guard cell ultrastructure. Am. J. Bot. 59, 504–514 (1972)
Pinto da Silva, P., Branton, D.: Membrane splitting in freezeetching. Covalently bound ferritin as a membrane marker. J. Cell Biol. 45, 598–605 (1970)
Preston, R.D.: The Physical Biology of Plant Cell Walls, p 444–456. London: Chapman & Hall 1974
Preston, R.D.: Die Struktur pflanzlicher Polysaccharide. Endeavour 23, 153–159 (1964)
Raschke, K.: Stomatal action. Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. 26, 309–340
Raschke, K.: The stomatal turgor mechanism and its responses to CO2 and abscisic acid: observations and a hypothesis. In: Regulation of Cell Membrane Activities in Plants, p. 173–183. Marré, E., Ciferri, O., eds. Amsterdam: North Holland Publ. Comp. 1977
Raschke, K.: Movements of stomata. In: Physiology of Movements, Encyclopedia of Plant Physiology, vol. 7, p. 383–441. Haupt, W., Feinleib, M.E., eds. Berlin, Heidelberg, New York: Springer 1979
Robeneck, H., Peveling, E.: Ultrastructure of the cell wall regeneration of isolated protoplasts of Skimmia japonica Thunb. Planta 136, 135–145 (1977)
Schmidt, W.W., Zingsheim, H.P., Bachmann, L.: Investigation of molecular and micellar solutions by freeze-etching. 7th Congress on Electron Microscopy, Grenoble, Favard, P., ed., p. 455–456. Paris: Soc. Fr. Microsc. Electron 1970
Schnabl, H.: The effect of Cl− upon the sensitivity of starchcontaining and starch-deficient stomata and guard cell protoplasts towards potassium ions, fusicoccin and abscisic acid. Planta 144, 95–100 (1978)
Schnabl, H., Bornman, Ch.H., Ziegler, H.: Studies on isolated starch containing (Vicia faba) and starch deficient (Allium cepa) guard cell protoplasts. Planta 143, 33–39 (1978)
Schnabl, H., Raschke, K.: Potassium chloride as stomatal osmoticum in Allium cepa L., a species devoid of starch in guard cells. Plant Physiol. (in press)
Schnabl, H., Ziegler, H.: The mechanism of stomatal movement in Allium cepa L. Planta 136, 37–43 (1977)
Staehelin, L.A.: Chloroplast membrane structure, intramembraneous particles of different sizes make contact in stacked membrane regions. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 408, 1–11 (1975)
Staehelin, L.A., Chlapowsky, F.J., Bonneville, M.A.: Lumenal plasma membrane of the urinary bladder. I. Three-dimensional reconstruction from freeze-etch images. J. Cell Biol. 53, 73–91 (1972)
Stoeckenius, W., Hwang, San-B., Korenbrot, J.: Proton translocation by bacteriorhodopsin in model systems. In: Structure of Biological Membranes, p. 479–496. Abrahamson, S., Pasher, J., eds. Nobel Symposia No. 34, 1976
Thornley, M.J., Glauert, A.M., Sleytr, U.B.: Isolation of outer membranes with an ordered array of surface subunits from Acinetobacter. J. Bacteriol. 114, 1294–1308 (1973)
Verkleij, A.J., Mombers, C., Leunissen-Bijvelt, J., Ververgaert, P.H.J.Th.: Lipidic intramembraneous particles. Nature (London) 279, 162–163 (1979)
Verkleij, A.J., Ververgaert, P.H.J.Th.: Freeze-fracture morphology of biological membranes. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 515, 303–327 (1978)
Verkleij, A.J., Ververgaert, P.H.J.Th.: The architecture of biological and artificial membranes as visualized by freeze etching. Annu. Rev. Phys. Chem. 26, 101–122 (1975)
Zeiger, E., Hepler, P.K.: Production of guard cell protoplasts from onion and tobacco. Plant Physiol. 58, 492–498 (1976)
Zeiger, E., Moody, W., Hepler, P.: Light-sensitive membrane potentials in onion guard cells. Nature (London) 270, 270–271 (1977)
Zimmermann, U., Steudle, E.: Bestimmung des Reflexionskoeffizienten an der Membran der Alge Valonia utricularis. Z. Naturforsch. 25b, 500–504 (1970)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Schnabl, H., Vienken, J. & Zimmermann, U. Regular arrays of intramembranous particles in the plasmalemma of guard cell and mesophyll cell protoplasts of Vicia faba . Planta 148, 231–237 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00380032
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00380032