The effect of mineral nutrient deficiencies on the structure of the leaf cells of tomato, spinach, and maize

Abstract

Observations were made by electron microscopy of the leaf cells of normal (full nutrient) tomato, spinach, and maize plants and of plants grown deficient in each of the known essential macro- and micronutrients except chlorine. In the case of spinach, observations were also made by phase contrast and fluorescence microscopy. A feature of this study was the large variation found in the shape, size, and appearance of chloroplast sections from both full-nutrient and mineral deficient plants. A representative range of photographs showing this variation is presented. Specific changes in chloroplast appearance were found in the cases of manganese deficiency and iron deficiency and distinctive changes were found in the 10 other deficiencies. The results obtained are discussed in relation to other published results describing the effects of mineral deficiencies on plant cell ultrastructure.