Summary
The secondary phloem of the primitive angiosperm familyWinteraceae is composed of sieve tubes, companion cells and phloem-parenchyma cells. In a vertical file of a few consecutive cells, the entire differentiation of a sieve tube could be followed. The main features of the ultrastructural differentiation of sieve-tube members conform with what is known from other dicotyledons; synthesis and distribution of P-protein, nuclear degeneration as a chromatolysis, sieve-pore formation from single plasmodesmata, specific sieve pore—pit field connections to companion cells. The presence in a few species of P-type plastids and structural details of P-protein, such as absence of P-protein tubules and dispersive P-protein bodies in the presence of P-protein filaments and non-dispersive crystalline bodies, are discussed in view of the basic position of the family.
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Dedicated to Prof. Dr.Katherine Esau on occasion of her 85th birthday.
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Behnke, H.D., Kiritsis, U. Ultrastructure and differentiation of sieve elements in primitive angiosperms. I.Winteraceae . Protoplasma 118, 148–156 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01293072
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01293072