Walls Of Cambial Cells Research Articles

Nonparallelism of cambium cells in neighboring rows

The periclinal walls of cambial cells in neighboring lineages (rows) may not be parallel when viewed in their radial aspect. This lack of longitudinal parallelism may be so extensive that in active cambium pairs of cells from neighboring rows may be in contact only along restricted segments. This means that the initial cells, rather than farming a continuous layer, may be arranged in an irregular network pattern from which some parts project inward or outward from the layer of their mutual cantacts. The longitudinal nonparallelism of cambial cells becomes more pronounced during symplasitic radial growth. Unequal periclinal divisions counteract this, and in initial cells abscission of the parts projecting from the layer of mutual contact occurs. When the cambium passes from a period of activity to a Period of rest a continuous layer of initials is reestabhshed. This involves elongation by intrusive growth of those cells previously shortened as the result of irregular periclinal divisions. The division walls in cambial cells may be warped, that is they change their orientation along the longitudinal direction perhaps even similar to an aircraft propeller. A division wall may thus be periclinal in one part of the cell and anticlinal in another.

Modification of cambial cell wall architecture during cambium periodicity in Populus tomentosa Carr.

Cambium periodicity is correlated with changes in the cambial cell wall, but the heterogeneity of cell wall structure and composition makes it difficult to give an accurate interpretation, especially for complex secondary vascular tissues. A combination of different methods is necessary to reveal the structure of this complex cell wall. In this study, the cell wall architecture and composition of active and dormant cambial cells in Populus tomentosa were investigated by a combination of light microscopy, rapid-freezing and deep-etching electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared microspectroscopy and immuno-histochemistry. The results showed that the architecture of dormant cambial cell walls displayed a multi-layered structure, denser fibril network, smaller pore size, and fewer crosslinks between microfibrils than active cambial cell walls. The FTIR spectra of cell walls from active and dormant cambium showed differences in the intensity of bands near 1,740, 1,629, 1,537, 1,240, and 830 cm−1, which reflected differences in cell wall composition. Immuno-labeling indicated that high methyl-esterified homogalacturonan and (1 → 4)-β-d-galactan epitopes were abundant and distributed in active cambial cell walls, and relatively de-esterified homogalacturonan and (1 → 5)-α-l-arabinan epitopes had weak labeling in the active cambium, while almost no labeling or very weak labeling for high methyl-esterified homogalacturonan, (1 → 4)-β-d-galactan and (1 → 5)-α-l-arabinan epitopes occurred in dormant cambial cells, except for the de-esterified homogalacturonan epitope, which was abundant in dormant cambial cells. These results demonstrate that there are great differences, both in structure and composition, between active and dormant cambial cell walls, which reflect their dynamic changes during cambium activity.

Organisation of vascular cambium during different seasons in some tropical timber trees

The vascular cambium of Albizzia, Tectona, Terminalia, Calophyllum, Mangifera and Morinda was non‐storied while that of Dalbergia was semi‐storied. The ray initials were uniseriate in Terminalia and Calophyllum, both uniseriate and biseriate in Albizzia, Dalbergia, Mangifera and Morinda and were also multiseriate in Tectona. They were homogeneous in Albizzia and heterogeneous in the other species. The radial walls of cambial cells were always beaded, although beads were more prominent and closer to one another during periods of cambial dormancy than during activity. The fusiform initials were comparatively less vacuolated during dormancy/ least activity. When active, the fusiform and ray initials of all species, except Calophyllum, also showed multinucleate condition (2–10 depending on species). The proportion of ray initials to fusiform initials was almost constant throughout the year in all species.

The Development of Fibre-Tracueid Pit Membranes in Pyrus Communis L.

The development of fibre-tracheid pit membranes in Pyrus communis L. has been studied using transmission electron microscopy. Pit fields in the radial walls of cambial cells in transverse section contain isolated plasmodesmata. As cell enlargement proceeds, groups of plasmodesmata develop within thickenings of the future pit membrane. These thickenings are covered by amorphous, secondary-wall-like material (the torus-like structures found in mature pits by Parameswaran ' Liese, 1981) just prior to the end of differentiation and cytoplasmic autolysis. It is suggested that this cap of material acts as aseal, preventing passage of autolytic enzymes from a dying cell to its living neighbour via the perforations occupied by plasmodesmata.

Locating the initial in the vascular cambium of Pinus strobus L. by electron microscopy

The results of this investigation by electron microscopy on the vascular cambium in Pinus strobus L. confirm the results of earlier investigations by light microscopy. First, they showed that differences in the thickness of tangential walls of cambial cells exist and that these differences permit grouping of cells according to the sequence of the previous divisions of the initial. This, in turn, permits the site of the initial cell in the cambial zone to be deducted. The thicker distal tangential wall of the initial in the successive series of tissue production allows for precluding the direction in which the initial function proceeds, toward the xylem or toward the phloem. Second, it was demonstrated that immature xylem cells exist in groups of four, that immature phloem cells exist in pairs, and that at all times more cells are produced toward the xylem than toward the phloem. Third, it was shown that the extra-thick tangential wall in immature xylem serves as a landmark to signal the changeover in the initial function from phloem to xylem production.