THE ULTRASTRUCTURAL CHANGES INDUCED BY COLCHICINE IN ROOT MERISTEMATIC CELLS OF GLYCINE SOJA

Glycine soja roots were incubated in colchicine for 3 days after they had germinated for 4 days.Obvious ultrastructural changes in the cells of root meristem regionwere observed:cell nucleus was surrounded by plastids with several starch grains inside,the volume of vacuole increased,large and regularly-shaped vacuoles displayed arroundnucleus and throughout cytoplasm.Reticulate rough endoplasmic reticulum stacks couldbe detected occasionally.The shape of some nuclei became irregulsr,and the nucleus occupied a smaller portion of cell volume compared with those of dividing root cells without colchicine treatment.All these characteristics indicate that the cells treated withcolchicine undergo a differentiation pathway instead of being kept at meristematic state.