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Cell and endophyte structure of the nitrogen-fixing root nodules ofCeanothus integerrimus H. and A.

I. Fine structure of the nodule and its endosymbiont

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Summary

The nitrogen fixing root nodules ofCeanothus integerrimus were very similar in appearance to other non-legume nodules. Each nodule was a cluster of small lobes. Each lobe in cross section had a central vascular cylinder and a hypertrophied cortex. The cortex contained very large infected cells, with large nuclei; among these infected cells were scattered small, normal-appearing cortex cells. The actinomycete endophyte consisted of wavy hyphae 0.4 μm in diameter which terminated in pear-shaped vesicles 1.6 μm×2 μm. The vesicles were not septate. The function of the vesicles was unknown. The infected cells had apparently normal nuclei, chloroplasts and mitochondria and were probably alive, except at the base of the nodule where both infected cells and the endophyte they contained were dead.

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Strand, R., Laetsch, W.M. Cell and endophyte structure of the nitrogen-fixing root nodules ofCeanothus integerrimus H. and A.. Protoplasma 93, 165–178 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01275651

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01275651

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