ULTRASTRUCTURE OF DRY SEED TISSUE AFTER A NON-AQUEOUS PRIMARY FIXATION

A primary fixative of formaldehyde and glycerol is presented as an essentially non‐aqueous medium for the preservation of dry material, such as seeds, for electron microscopic studies. Good preservation of the ultrastructure of the parenchyma cells of cotyledons of dry seeds of mungbean was obtained with this fixative. In these cells the nuclei, plastids, protein bodies and mitochondria were easily identified. In some parenchyma cells, stacked arrays of ribosomes were observed that were similar to ordered arrays of rough endoplasmic reticulum although the membrane elements were poorly defined. In general, all membranes including the plasmaiemma were ill defined, suggesting that, in dry seeds, membranes are disorganized from the topical bilayered structure. Copyright © 1979, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved