1983 Volume 48 Issue 2 Pages 349-362
Impairments of the energetic metabolism affect the ultrastructures of the organelles in roots, during long term anaerobiosis (72h). They were fully reversible upon the return to an aerated medium (15h). Comparison was made after uncoupling oxidative phosphorylation by means of the 2-4 DNP, or after plasmolysis which reduces the oxygen uptake. Germ-free excised tomato roots, cultivated in vitro were used.
The endoplasmic reticulum saccules which were located in the peripheric cytoplasm of control cells, were reduced during the three experiments, possibly associated with a diminution of the chemical exchanges from one cell to another. Other saccules formed long parallel sheets, their ribosomes remaining numerous. A complex system of vesicles was formed in the perinuclear cytoplasm, specifically induced by anaerobiosis.
