Abstract
The present investigation aims to ascertain the presence of cytoplasmic lipid droplets (LDs) in different Coffea sp. leaf tissues. A detailed morpho-anatomical characterization, in addition to highlighting that the overall internal leaf tissue organization is independent of the coffee botanical species, put in evidence for the first time the presence of LDs in Coffea sp. leaves. Leaves from plant accessions of several coffee species, kept under greenhouse conditions, have been sampled in two different periods (January and June). Cytoplasmic LDs have been observed in all samples and they are mainly present as a single body, ranging from a minimum diameter of 1 µm to a maximum of 10 µm, detected in both palisade and spongy parenchyma cells of mesophyll tissue. In some case LDs are also sporadically observed in some epidermal cells in both abaxial or adaxial surface or in the subsidiary cells of stomata. Depending on season as well as coffee species, LDs show variability in terms of quantity, size, clustering and tissue distribution (presence in the mesophyll and/or epidermal tissue). The occurrence of LDs in a particular coffee leaf tissue is the prerequisite to further explore the physiological role of these organelles and reveal their possible functional benefits.
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