Changes in the Fine Structure of the Desiccation-Tolerant Sedge Coleochloa setifera (Ridley) Gilly Under Water Stress

Abstract

Electron microscopy demonstrated gross changes to organelles during dehydration, particularly in chloroplasts which lose thylakoids. Plastoglobuli increase in size as internal chloroplast membranes develop into vesicles. An increase in polysomes and in rough endoplasmic reticulum after moderate stress suggested the possibility of increased protein synthesis at this time. The loss of chlorophyll while grana were still evident suggested an ordered destructuring of the chlorophyll. In dry tissue the nucleus remained intact, mitochondria contained few indistinct cristae and chloroplasts appeared as organelles containing vesicles and plastoglobuli. Both aqueous and anhydrous fixation techniques were used to follow h e structural changes on drying.