YEAST IMMOBILIZATION IN CARRIER PARTICLES OF PLANT-ORIGIN - AN ELECTRON-MICROSCOPIC STUDY

Localization of immobilized cells of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisia e in the particles of a carrier derived from the duckweed Wolffia arrh iza was studied by scanning electron microscopy. Yeast cells were gene rally immobilized inside the carrier particles, which consisted of cel l-wall frameworks and remained cell-structured after protoplasm extrac tion. Moreover, the carrier particles made from W. arrhiza retained mo rphological and anatomic structure typical of the intact plant. This e nsures a high degree of compartmentalization and, hence, efficient imm obilization of yeast cells. These particles were shown to contain vari ous morphological structures, providing for entry, compartmentalizatio n, and exit of yeast cells. The described carrier particles are sugges ted as models for studying compartmentalization of symbiotic microorga nisms in plant tissues.