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Studies of a Marine Grass, Thalassia testudinum. I. Ultrastructure of the Osmoregulatory Leaf Cells

1973; Wiley; Volume: 60; Issue: 10 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/2441514

1537-2197

Richard Jagels,

Marine and coastal plant biology

Thalassia testudinum (Turtle Grass), a marine monocot which grows completely submerged, differs from intertidal and other halophytic angiosperms in that it has no specialized saltsecretory glands. Osmoregulation appears to be accomplished by the epidermal leaf cells which have highly invaginated plasmalemmas with numerous mitochondria situated in the interdigitations. The ultrastructure and proposed mode of secretion are similar to that of the salt-marsh monocot Spartina, but differ from that found in dicots. Evidence is presented to show why monocots are the only angiosperms which have adapted to a completely marine environment.