Euglena plasma membrane during normal and vitamin B12 starvation growth

Freeze-fracture and optical diffraction techniques were used to study the organization of the Euglena pellicle during the normal and replicative stages of the cell cycle and during vitamin B12 starvation. It was shown that the diffuse layer underlying the tripartite structure has a fibrillar structure. Despite the absence of homology in the 2 fracture faces of the pellicle, the EF striated and the PF particulate ones appear complementary as shown by optical diffraction studies; it must therefore be considered as a true membrane. The grooves are free from such particles and striations. They appear as a specific pattern of the cortex, different from the ridges in their structural organization and their replicative capacity as observed during vitamin B12 starvation. This notion is confirmed by the mode of pellicular growth which is characterized by 2 steps. The first occurs during the early replicative stage (pre-mitotic phase of the cell cycle) when the formation of a new ridge is correlated with the appearance of the 'minor' orientation of a 2-dimensional lattice on the EF and the PF faces and the spread of the particles over the PF face of the space between the old ridges. The second takes place during the lengthening of the ridges from the initiating posterior side (non-replicative stage). During this second step, the 'major' orientation of the lattice is preferentially observed in control cells and exclusively in starved cells. The striking differences between the grooves and the ridges is discussed, as well as the 2 modes of growth and their significance in morphogenesis.