A seasonal cycle of cell wall structure is accompanied by a cyclical rearrangement of cortical microtubules in fusiform cambial cells within taproots of Aesculus hippocastanum (Hippocastanaceae)

Aspects of the structure and ultrastructure of the fusiform cambial cells of the taproot of Aesculus hippocastanum L. (horse chestnut) are described in relation to the seasonal cycle of cambial activity and dormancy. Particular attention is directed at cell walls and the microtubule and microfilament components of the cytoskeleton, using a range of cytochemical and immunolocalization techniques at the optical and electron-microscopical levels. During the dormant phase, cambial cell walls are thick and multi-layered, the cells possess a helical array of cortical microtubules, and microfilament bundles are oriented axially. In the early stages of reactivation, vesicle-like profiles are associated with the cell walls, whereas arrangement of the cytoskeletal elements remains unchanged. In the succeeding active phase, the cell walls are thin, and cortical microtubules form a random array, although microfilament bundles maintain a near-axial orientation. The observations are discussed in relation to the seasonal cycle of wall structure and cortical microtubule rearrangement within the vascular cambium of hardwood trees. It is suggested that the cell-wall thickening at the onset of cambial dormancy, which is associated with the presence of a helical cortical microtubule array, should be considered to be secondary wall thickening, and that selective lysis of this secondary wall layer during cambial reactivation restores the thinner, primary wall found around active cambial cells.