Initiation and development of resin ducts in the major organs of Pinus massoniana

Abstract

The structure, distribution and patterns of resin ducts in processes of its initiation and development were studied with the methods of thin section and ultrathin section. This paper emphasized the ultrastructural changes during canal development by a ring of the live epithelial cells, and the epithelial cells were usually surrounded with one or two layered sheath cells, which were normal parenchyma cells in some primary resin ducts and became dead cells with thick walls in other primary and secondary resin ducts. The resin ducts were found to occur in almost all organs, except in cotyledon. The resin ducts were formed by schizogeny and their development can be divided into three stages (e.g., initial stage, formation stage and mature stage). At the initial stage, the initial cells had many plastids without integral membrane structures, which contain one or two starch grains in them, and there are a few black osmiophilic droplets on the endoplasmic reticulum and membranes. A small number of osmiophilic droplets were present in the plastids. At the formation stage, the number of plastids, mitochondria and Golgi bodies in epithelial cells increased. The plastids were commonly surrounded by endoplasmic reticulum sheath. The larger osmiophilic droplets in cytoplasm and the smaller osmiophilic droplets on the plastids envelope, mitochondrion envelope and Golgi vesicles obviously increased in number during canal developing. At the mature stage, the cytoplasm of epithelial cells became thin with small nucleus. The number of mitochondria and Golgi body decreased, but numerous plastids still existed. Osmiophilic droplets were abundant in epithelial cells as in previous status. Taken together, the structures of plastids in epithelial cells gradually became well developed and the synthesis of resin was remarkably enhanced during resin duct formation and plastids should be the main site for resin synthesis.