THE FINE STRUCTURE OF SIEVE ELEMENTS OF NEREOCYSTIS LÜTKEANA

Abstract

The sieve elements of Nereocystis from the base of phylloids contain numerous small vesicles, cytoplasm, ribosomes, and the usual organelles and membrane systems, including nuclei, plastids, mitochondria, dictyosomes, and endoplasmic reticulum. They have a thick secondary wall layer which is deposited along the longitudinal walls and at the sieve plate excluding the sieve pores. The sieve pores range in diameter from 100 to 400 nm and are lined by plasmalemma. The sieve elements from the hollow basal parts of the pneumatocyst show essentially the same features but have larger and fewer vesicles, relatively little cytoplasm, larger sieve pores, 400–900 nm in diameter, and may lack a nucleus. In old sieve elements there are large deposits of callose on the sieve plate and along the longitudinal wall; the vesicles seem to break down, and the protoplast appears necrotic. It is concluded that the trumpet hyphae and sieve tubes are basically the same type of cell, and that the trumpet‐shape of the sieve elements is due to their passive stretching during extension growth of the organ in which they occur. There are minor but significant differences among the sieve elements from different regions of the thallus which may reflect possible levels of structural specialization of the sieve elements within the same plant.