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. 1976 Jan;57(1):41–46. doi: 10.1104/pp.57.1.41

Chloroplast Growth and Replication in Germinating Spinach Cotyledons following Massive γ-Irradiation of the Seed

Ray Rose a, John Possingham a
PMCID: PMC541959  PMID: 16659421

Abstract

Spinach seeds (Spinacia oleracea L.) given massive doses of γ-irradiation (500 krad) germinate and form a seedling with two green cotyledons and a radicle, but develop no further. Irradiated cotyledons show no increase in cell number or total DNA over a 7-day period in the light, while in control cotyledons there is a small increase in cell number and large increases in total DNA and chloroplast number. The chloroplasts of irradiated cotyledons are delayed in their division, become greatly enlarged and contain large amounts of starch. The whole population of chloroplasts subsequently undergoes a wave of division. The daughter chloroplasts show normal thylakoid development, but have some abnormal structural features caused by the radiation stress. Information on the effect of X-irradiation, ultraviolet irradiation, and 5-fluorodeoxyuridine on chloroplast replication and on chloroplast and nuclear DNA synthesis was obtained from cultured spinach leaf discs. It appears that chloroplast replication is more resistant to ionizing radiation than cell division and can proceed in the absence of nuclear DNA synthesis and greatly reduced chloroplast DNA synthesis.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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