Ultrastructure of organic acid secreting trichomes of chickpea (Cicer arietinum)

Abstract

The acid-secreting trichomes of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) were composed of 18 cells, including 1 basal cell, 3 elongate stalk cells, and 14 head cells. A subcuticular secretion chamber with cuticular pores was present above the head cells at the trichome tip. The basal and stalk cells had large central vacuoles, endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, and small vacuoles. In the stalk cells, these small vacuoles were aligned along microtubles extending from the bottom to the top of the cells. Head cells had more dense cytoplasm than stalk cells and also had numerous mitochondria and small vacuoles. A labyrinth of tubules and vesicles at the edges of the head cells contained granular material similar to that observed in the extraplasmic space of the head cell and in the secretion chamber. In older head cells, the tubules were thinner and lacked granular material, the cells contained sequestering membranes and vacuoles, and calcium oxalate crystals were observed in the extraplasmic space. Plasmodesmata were not observed between the basal cell and the surrounding mesophyll cells, although numerous plasmodesmata with associated desmotubules and endoplasmic reticulum connected the trichome cells. Chloroplasts were not observed in the head or stalk cells, whereas the basal cell had small chloroplasts with reduced thylakoid networks and the mesophyll cells had large chloroplasts with well-developed thylakoids that may provide the fixed carbon for organic-acid secretion.