Abstract

Shoot apices of 7-day old foxtail millet(Setaria italica(L) Beauv.) seedlings treated with 2 and 20 mg/L of dimethyltetrachloroterephthalate (DCPA) were examined under the electron microscope. Cell division is interrupted. The nucleus and nucleolus do not disintegrate and chromosomes do not differentiate. Instead, giant nuclei and giant nucleoli occupy most of the cell volume in the meristematic regions. Several nucleolar caps form on the giant nucleolus; and in the advanced stages, they separate and are encircled by a nuclear membrane to form multiple nuclei. Other organelles are also affected. Cristae and thylakoid membranes of mitochondria and chloroplasts degenerate and multiple vacuoles form. Cell walls are markedly more osmophilic after DCPA treatment. Treated cells are less turgid than controls.

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