The Occurrence of Transfer Cells in the Vascular Tissues of the Coleoptilar Node of Wheat

Abstract

Wooding and Northcote (1965), Gunning, Pate, and Briarty (1968), Gunning and Pate (1969), and Pate and Gunning (1969) have drawn attention recently to the presence of cells with wall ingrowths in a number of sites in plants at which one might expect short-distance transport of considerable quantities of solutes. Gunning and Pate (1969) suggested that these cells be called "transfer cells" and surveyed their distribution in the leaves of a large sample of Angiosperms. These cells have not been found in the leaves of any grasses, and they have been demonstrated in the Gramineae only in the embryo sac of maize (Diboll 1968). In this paper, transfer cells are illustrated in the vascular tissue at the coleoptilar node in wheat, and the possible functions of these cells at this site are discussed.