Chromoplast biogenesis in Chelidonium majus petals

Abstract

The differentiation of chromoplasts, with special emphasis on the formation and the organisation of chromoplast fibrils, was followed in the petals of the greater celandine, Chelidonium majus L. Electron microscopic observations showed that, in the epidermis, differentiation of chromoplasts started from leucoplasts, while mesophyll chromoplasts originated from chloroplasts. During petal maturation, fibrils accumulated in the plastids, often arranging in a parallel fashion to form compact birefringent bundles. Immediately before flower opening, these fibrillar bundles started to disorganise, and, at anthesis, most chromoplasts contained widely spaced fibrils which were irregularly dispersed through the plastid interior. During chromoplast differentiation, fibrils were commonly observed to protrude from plastoglobules, suggesting the possible site of their formation. Western analysis indicated that a protein antigenically related to fibrillin from pepper chromoplasts participates in the constitution of fibrils in Chelidonium petals.