MOBILE RETICULAR ORGANIZATION OF PLASTIDS AND MITOCHONDRIA IN PLANT CELLS
Yu. V. Gamalei
V. L. Komarov Botanical Institute RAS, St. Petersburg;
e-mail: gamalei@mail15.com
Results of confocal, fluorescent and video microscopy of plant cell organelles and of stromule network uniting
them are reviewed. The vast information on the structure of stromules, their mobility, proposed functions and
development has been analyzed, in addition to factors stimulating and suppressing this development. Structural
similarity between the network of stromules in living cells, observed by confocal fluorescence microscopy, and the
endoplasmic reticulum, seen on micrographs of preparations fixed for electron microscopy is discussed. As a result
of this discussion, a conclusion is made with regard to the identity of these endomembranous networks. The
intercellular symplastic organization is shown for both networks in plant tissues. The existence of a common
transport and trophic compartment is proposed that includes organelles, intercellular endoplasmic reticulum and its
derivatives, phloem and xylem. The trophic system development might have been induced in the course of
endosymbiogenesis with some bacterial precursors of organelles.
Key words: stromules, plastids, mitochondria, motility, endoplasmic reticulum, plasmodesmata,
trophic system, conducting tissue, confocal microscopy
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