Cell wall development of Micrasterias americana, especially in isotonic and hypertonic solutions

The cell wall development of Micrasterias americana was investigated by light and electron microscopy. From digestion experiments with pectinase and cellulase, and from fluorescence spectra in Calcofluor and Coriphosphin solution, it was concluded that pectin substances were the main component of the young developing cell wall and that cellulose was synthesized after the daughter hemicell was well developed. In 0-16 M mannitol, wall materials accumulated and were incompletely incorporated into the wall at the region where wall growth would be expected. The plasma membrane was in close contact with the cell wall at the sinus, and this contact was assumed to prevent penetration of wall material at this region, resulting in the accumulation of wall material at regions other than the sinus. The cellulosic wall layer was formed after the production of pectic substances in the 0-16 M mannitol. In 0-3 M mannitol neither a definite wall layer of cellulose nor a pectic wall was produced, presumably due to extensive dilution of the wall materials in the plasmolysed space between the cell wall and the plasma membrane. Under normal circumstances, the shape of the daughter cell is assumed to be determined by the shape of the developed primary wall, which is induced by precocious differentiation of the wall at the sinus.