MICROCASTING OF INTRACELLULAR AND INTERCE LLULAR SPACES IN PLANT-TISSUES

We present a new microcasting method developed for studying plant vasc ular organization and some of its applications to plant histology. The method consists in injecting a low viscosity silicon elastomer in apo plastic intracellular lumen, particularly of the vessels, and in pulli ng out the reticulated cast by partial or complete destruction of cell ular walls. It allows one to vizualise the vessels both over a wide ra nge and with a remarkable accuracy (resolution better than a micrometr e). Intercellular spaces of leaf and petal mesophyll and of pith paren chyma can also be cast by means of that method. Materialization of the se tissular spaces naturally filled with liquid or gaseous phases, and accurate reproduction of internal surface details usefully complement more classical methods of histology, for application in the study of cambial functioning, vascular organization and water transport via xyl em conduits.