Programmed cell death begins earlier in the mesophyll cells of tulip petals than in the epidermal cells

Abstract

Based on histological observations, the onset of programmed cell death (PCD) occurs earlier in the mesophyll cells of petals than in the epidermal cells, but few biochemical studies have addressed the onset of PCD in mesophyll cells. We sampled epidermal cells and, separately, mesophyll cells from tulip petals, and then used biochemical methods to examine the onset of PCD in the two different tissue types. DNA laddering and collapse of cells had begun in mesophyll cells before petals had visibly wilted, but DNA laddering was not evident in epidermal cells at that point. Changes in protein content and total proteinase activity during senescence also supported the conclusion that the onset of PCD occurred in mesophyll cells before it occurred in epidermal cells. This study is the first to use multiple biochemical methods of analysis, as well as microscopic observations, to demonstrate that PCD begins earlier in the mesophyll cells than in the epidermal cells of tulip petals.