Electron microscopic evidence for the reversible transformation ofEuonymus plastids

Abstract

Contradictory concepts on whether the differentiation of plastids is monotropically directed or reversibly transformable with one another have been argued for a long time. In the present report, the evidence to support the latter concept, i.e. the reversible transformation, will be presented.

The seasonal yellowing and regreening ofEuonymus leaves were observed by means of electron microscopic study. In the yellowing of chloroplasts during winter, plastoglobules appeared in the plastid stroma and increased in number according to the disintegration of lamellae; then the degenerated chloroplasts (chromoplasts) were filled up with these plastoglobules. In the next spring, however, regreening of the yellowed leaves took place; the lamellae were regenerated in the chromoplasts to again restore the normal chloroplast structure. Infolding of the inner membrane was never observed in these regreening plastids. The number of plastoglobules in the plastids decreased as the lamellae regenerated, and the chlorophyll content increased. These observations suggest that the plastoglobules in chromoplasts (plastids in yellowed leaves) are made of material of the disintegrating lamellae and are re-used as the source of supply for the reformation of lamellae in the spring reversal.