Quantification of organelle changes in plant suspension cultures during growth

Abstract

Stereological techniques were used to quantify ultrastructural changes which occurred during maturation of cultured Paul's Scarlet rose cells. The volume and ultrastructural composition of young, dividing, unsynchronized 5-day-old cells were compared to that of mature, nondividing 14-day-old cells. The volume of the 14-day-old cells was 4-fold greater than that of the 5-day-old cells, primarily due to vacuole expansion. Numerous quantitative changes occurred in the organelle composition during cell maturation, but distinctive differences were observed in the magnitude and direction of change among the different types of organelles. There was an overall decline in the plastid population as measured by both percent of cell volume and numbers of plastids per cell. The percent of cell volume and numbers of lipid bodies increased, whereas the percent volume of the mitochondria remained relatively constant while the number per cell declined.