Multivesicular structures and cell wall growth

Abstract

Applied auxin caused cells of artichoke tuber slices to expand and deposit significant amounts of new wall material while cells in slices held on water remained essentially inert in both respects. Cells in all physiological treatments showed multivesicular structures at the plasma membrane (plasmalemmasomes, lomasomes), within the cytoplasm and within the central vacuoles. The number of plasmalemmasomes was considerably greater in cells not depositing wall than in cells treated with auxin to stimulate wall synthesis. Multivesicular structures showed no relation to Golgi bodies, which increase in number and apparent activity in response to auxin treatment. It is concluded that plasmalemmasomes are not involved in cell wall deposition. Multivesicular structures in plant cells could have several origins and it is suggested that some may represent artifactual reorganization of plasmalemma and tonoplast membranes during cytological processing. Such reorganization would presumably be sensitive to the physiological state of the tissue.