Tracheary elements with well-developed cell wall thickenings and containing large amounts of storage material were occasionally found in hypocotyls of the cucumber of certain ages. The storage material, consisting of protein bodies, lipid bodies, and starch grains, was closely packed. The few cell organelles present were disintegrated. The ultrastructure of the aberrant tracheary elements and procambium elements likely to differentiate into them is described. The storage material must be regarded as newly formed from material dissolved in neighbouring cells. It is postulated that activities necessary for differentiation suppress the deposition of storage material while the capacity of the cell to store material remains for some time after the termination of the dormancy period of the seed. The new formation of storage material would occur in procambium elements in which differentiation related processes were initiated before the onset of dormancy.

Acta botanica neerlandica

CC BY 3.0 NL ("Naamsvermelding")

Koninklijke Nederlandse Botanische Vereniging

Leentje Goosen-de Roo, & Melisa C. Polsbroek. (1976). The ultrastructure of primary tracheary elements containing large amounts of storage material in the hypocotyl of the cucumber. Acta botanica neerlandica, 25(2), 129–147.