Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 8.
Nectary fates and cell degeneration after nectar secretion.
Several cases of cell degeneration have been reported in nectaries after
secretion. Typical evidence of programmed cell death (PCD) such as nuclear
disorganization, cytoplasmic condensation, and disruption of ER cisternae
was observed in
Arabidopsis thaliana
(Zhu & Hu, 2002). A continuous in-
crease in vacuole volume in post-secretory nectaries is often associated with
autophagic events, revealed by the presence of amyloplasts and other organ-
elles in the vacuole (Rachmilevitz & Fahn, 1973; Cecchi Fiordi & Palandri,
1982; Kronestedt et al., 1986; Belmonte et al., 1994; O'Brien et al., 1996).
However, examples of nectary tissue degeneration were not reported in a
recent review on PCD in floral organs (Rogers, 2006).
