Temperature induced changes of the ultrastructure and lipid composition in green and senescent leaves of Dicranum elongatum

• Published in: Physiologia Plantarum
• Main Authors: Karunen, Pirjo, Liljenberg, Conny
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1981
• Subjects: Subarctic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1399-3054.1981.tb05043.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1399-3054.1981.tb05043.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1399-3054.1981.tb05043.x

Fatty acid content of the triglycerides in subarctic Dicranum elongatum Schleich was 4 times higher in low (1°C) than in high (23°C) temperature treated green tissue. The respective value was 3 times higher in low than in high temperature treated senescent portions of the shoot. Differences in the triglyceride concentration were corroborated with both light and electron microscopic observations. In addition, low temperature treatment resulted in thick cell walls and in an increase in dry weight of the tissue, whereas the opposite effects were caused by high temperature. Senescence of leaf tissue was accompanied by an over‐all decrease in membraneous cell structures. In senescent leaf cells an inner wall‐like layer, less electron dense than the thick secondary wall, was particularly well developed in low temperature treated material. Characteristic of the senescent leaf cells were cytoplasmic structures, which were described as dormant endospores.