Ultrastructural evidence for calcium phosphate deposition by isolated corn shoot mitochondria

This study demonstrates that isolated corn (Zea mays L. Wf9 xM14) shoot mitochondria will accumulate calcium phosphate crystals in vitro that are comparable to those observed in both in vivo and in vitro animal mitochondria. The intensity of deposition, as observed by electron microscopy, increased with incubation time, substrate concentration, and concentration of calcium and inorganic phosphate. Calcium phosphate deposits were initially observed as amorphous, nearly spherical areas that lacked sharp or clear edges, but which were crystalline in nature under heavier loading conditions and longer incubation times.