Studies on starch deposition in certain mosses and fern allies
Date
1930
Authors
Ma, Roberta Mohling
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Description
The present investigation consists of a survey of starch deposition in the plastids of certain Mosses and Fern Allies. In the cells of young leaves of Isoetes and of Selaginella and in the sporogenous cells and the spore mother cells of Atrichum, Bryum, Funaria, and Physcomitrium, the plastids contain pyrenoid-like bodies, or starch grains, or both. In the plastids of the cells of very young leaves or in the young sporogenous cells, only red-staining pyrenoid-like bodies are present. As the cells grow, both red-staining bodies and starch grains of similar size and shape may exist in the same plastid. In a plastid of the mature cell starch grains alone are usually found. Since the pyrenoid bodies and the starch grains are similar in size and shape, they must be related. It is probable that starch grains are transformed pyrenoid bodies