Figure 1.

Observation of the leaf sheath and blade tissues. (A) Scanning electron micrograph of a mature maize leaf. B73 seedlings were grown for 13 days (stage 4). The red line indicates the ligular region, the tissues above the line are the blade and the tissues below the line are sheath tissues. The black line indicates the veins across the sheath, ligule and blade tissues of maize. (B) Cell file numbers and the ratio between the cell length and width were calculated in the leaf blade and sheath tissue between two lateral veins. (C) The blade and sheath tissues above or below the ligule of the third leaf from seedlings 10 (stage 1), 11 (stage 2), 12 (stage 3) and 13 (stage 4) days after planting were harvested at the same time. The arrowheads point to the leaf ligule. (D) Microscopic view of the blade (B), ligule (L) and sheath tissues (S) from stage 0 to stage 4 plants. The arrowheads point to the leaf ligule.