On the Presence of Para-Crystalline Formations in the Cytoplasm of a Maize Albino Mutant

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Abstract
Seeds of « Bagnolo » variety of maize, exposed to gamma radiation with a dose of 2.104r, gave rise to plants wich by self-fertilisation produced a X2-generation wich included: thoroughly green seedlings, albino seedlings which before maturity died, and of light-green or variegate seedlings, the latter interpretable as heterozigous (cfr. BERTONE 1964). For the present research, mutant albino seedlings obtained from seeds of heterozigous X2-plants, and control seedlings obtained from seeds of normal maize plants, were used. Using the electron microscope it was possible to observe in the mutant cytoplasm the presence of paracrystalline structures with a periodicity of about 120A. The paracrystals were not limited by membrane, were preferably localized close to the nucleus, and can be considered as protein crystals. These crystals were found in a mutant with altered plastid morphology, similar to those described previously for albina or xantha mutants. The accumulation of these crystals may be caused by a defect in the utilization of certain compounds by the abnormal chloroplasts.