TITLE	Study on laminar hydathodes of Ficus formosana (Moraceae) I. Morphology and ultrastructure
AUTHOR	Chyi-Chuann CHEN Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan Yung-Reui CHEN* Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
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ABSTRACT	In this study, the clearing method, LM, SEM, and TEM were used to examine the morphology and ultrastructures of laminar hydathodes of Ficus formosana Maxim. f. Shimadai Hayata. Morphologically, the laminar-hydathode of F. formosana is complex epithemal type, consisting of water pores, tracheid-ends, epithem cells, and a bounding sheath layer. Water pores are made up of two guard cells, and their pores open permanently. Ultrastructural and cytological data demonstrated that the epithem cell has a dense cytoplasm, numerous mitochondria, an extended ER system, and many small vesicles derived from Golgi bodies. It has proliferate peroxisomes, and their numbers increase with the maturation and aging of the epithem. In addition, abundant plasmodesmata were observed on the contacted cell wall between epithem cells. Variable structures of plasmalemmasome were also observed on the plasma membrane of the epithem. Plasmalemmasome is the result of endocytosis caused by the plasmolysis-deplasmolysis cycle, which is induced by repeating transpiration and guttation day and night. We suggest that the hydathode is an ideal system for studying endocytosis in plants.
KEYWORD	Endocytosis; Epithem; Ficus formosana Maxim. f. Shimadai Hayata; Laminar hydathodes; Plasmalemmasome; Ultrastructure; Water pores;
ARTICLE INFO	Botanical Bulletin of Academia Sinica, Volume 46 Number 3 July 2005, page 205-215, 11 pages
PUBLISHER	Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China