Aphid (Sitobion yakini) investigation shows thin-walled sieve tubes in barley (Hordeum vulgare L) to be more functional than thick-walled sieve tubes

Matsiliza, Balbalwa; Botha, Christiaan E J

Title: Aphid (Sitobion yakini) investigation shows thin-walled sieve tubes in barley (Hordeum vulgare L) to be more functional than thick-walled sieve tubes
Creator: Matsiliza, Balbalwa
Creator: Botha, Christiaan E J
Date Issued: 2002
Date: 2002
Type: Article
Identifier: vital:6526
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005960
Description: Barley, like most other grasses that have been studied, contains two kinds of sieve tube. The first formed are called thinwalled sieve tubes because of their thin wall compared to the late-formed, and are associated with companion cells. The late-formed are thick-walled sieve tubes, which differentiate next to the metaxylem vessels and lack companion cells. Aphid (Sitobion yakini (Eastop) feeding was studied using light microscopy to determine if they preferentially feed from thin- or thick-walled sieve tubes in the barley leaf. Penetration of the stylets through the leaf epidermis and mesophyll was largely intercellular, becoming partly intercellular and, partly, intracellular inside the vascular bundle. Sixteen of 19 pairs of stylets (84%), and 293 of 317 (92%) stylet tracks terminated at the thin-walled sieve tubes, suggesting that Sitobion yakini feeds preferentially on the thin-walled sieve tubes which seem to be more attractive to the aphid. These thin-walled sieve tubes are thus probably the most functional in terms of phloem loading and transport.
Format: 11 pages
Format: pdf
Language: English
Relation: Matsiliza, B. and Botha, C.E.J. (2002) Aphid (Sitobion yakini) investigation shows thin-walled sieve tubes in barley (Hordeum vulgare L) to be more functional than thick-walled sieve tubes. Physiologia Plantarum, 115 (1). pp. 137-143.

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