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Organization of argyrophilic nucleolar material throughout the division cycle of meristematic cells

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Summary

The silver impregnation of nucleolar material facilitated the study of the morphological changes which take place in the nucleolus throughout the division cycle in root tip cells ofAllium cepa. The nucleolus appears to undergo no morphological changes throughout the interphase. It undergoes disorganization during the prophase, while in the telophase it appears uniformly on the chromatin as condensing into prenucleolar bodies.

The appearance of the prenucleolar bodies is unaffected by puromycin, cordycepin, or ethidium bromide. This suggests that the argyrophilic material does not undergo synthesis during the telophase, nor require RNA or protein synthesis to effect the aggregation into prenucleolar bodies. However, the organization of nucleoli from prenucleolar bodies is inhibited by both cordycepin and ethidium bromide, suggesting that RNA synthesis is involved in this proccess.

In aneuploid nuclei induced by treatment with colchicine we observed the appearance of prenucleolar bodies during the telophase even in the absence of the nucleolar organizer, but in this case the formation of nucleoli fails to take place. The nucleolar organizers proved to be capable of acting only in the nucleus to which they belong, but not on other nuclei within the same cytoplasm belonging to multinucleate cells.

It seems logical to assume that one of the roles of the nucleolar organizer is related with the above-mentioned RNA synthesis, which is required to the aggregation of prenucleolar bodies into nucleoli.

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Author notes

  1. J. C. Stockert

    Present address: Department of Cytology, Institute of Cellular Biology, Vel'azquez, 144, Madrid-6, Spain

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cytology, Institute of Cellular Biology, Vel'azquez, 144, Madrid-6, Spain

    M. E. Fernández-Gómez, G. Giménez-Martín & J. F. López-Sáez

Authors
  1. J. C. Stockert
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  2. M. E. Fernández-Gómez
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  3. G. Giménez-Martín
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  4. J. F. López-Sáez
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Additional information

The work reported in the paper was undertaken during the tenure of a Research Training Fellowship awarded by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

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Stockert, J.C., Fernández-Gómez, M.E., Giménez-Martín, G. et al. Organization of argyrophilic nucleolar material throughout the division cycle of meristematic cells. Protoplasma 69, 265–278 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01280726

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01280726

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