Cover illustration: Forisome reaction in the sieve element of Vicia faba in response to cutting the main vein (at a distance of 3 cm upstream from the observation window) as recorded by confocal laser scanning microscopy. The phloem tissue was double-stained with the voltage-sensitive membrane dye RH-414 (red) and CMEDA/CMFDA (green) to stain the forisome. (Top) Bare-lying phloem tissue of an intact Vicia faba plant briefly before the wounding showing a condensed forisome in the SE (asterisk). Note the forked end of the forisome indicative of the presence of subunits. (Middle) The forisome disperses in response to cutting despite the apparent absence of an electrical potential wave. An increase of RH-414 fluorescence as with distant burning was never observed. (Bottom) The forisome recondenses some minutes after cutting. The bright fluorescent spots represent chloroplasts in the CCs and parenchyma cells around the SE. The arrowheads mark the sieve plate. The direction of translocation is from top to bottom. SE, sieve element; CC, companion cell. (see Furch et al. pp, 2827–2838).
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