Ultrastructure of crystalline inclusions in the thylakoids of dodder<Emphasis Type="Italic">(cuscuta japonica)</Emphasis> plastids

The plastids from seedlings of the parasitic angiospermCuscuta japonica were ultrastructurally investigated. In shoot subapical cells from 3-d-old seedlings grown in the dark, the etioplasts contained prolamellar bodies and amorphous and dense inclusions. In the shoot subapical cells obtained from 6-d-old seedlings grown under light conditions for the last 3 d, the underdeveloped chloroplasts contained phytoferritin within the stroma as well as amorphous and dense inclusions that were limited by the thylakoid membranes. In the developing chloroplasts, electron-dense materials were detected within the transversely sectioned thylakoid lumens. This dense material presented two different images, depending upon the sectional plane. When transversely prepared, the materials appeared as somewhat thick, linear structures, whereas longitudinally sectioned thylakoids revealed very large crystalline inclusions. In the developed chloroplasts, the amounts of electron-dense material or crystalline inclusions were remarkably reduced in the thylakoid lumens, which were electron-translucent. Far fewer crystalline inclusions were observed in the developed chloroplasts of seedlings than in the developing chloroplasts. These results suggest that the crystalline inclusions may be temporarily reserved within the thylakoid lumens of chloroplasts in the Gjaponica seedlings.