Ultrastructure and membrane permeability in cowpea seeds

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Abstract
The leakage of electrolytes and the localization of chloride within the cells of NaCl‐imbibed seeds indicates the plasmalemma is quite permeable during the early stages of imbibition. However, lanthanum is not able to penetrate the plasmalemma, suggesting that the plasmalemma is not entirely porous. Freeze‐fracture microscopy indicates that the plasmalemma is highly convoluted but reveals a fairly normal fracture plane. These observations suggest the membrane is a bilayer and leakiness may be more related to the degree of order within the bilayered membrane than to a primary restructuring and/or reorganization of the membrane components in the dry state.