Etioplast from young leaf of maize, TEM

Credit: DR JEREMY BURGESS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Caption: Transmission electron micrograph (TEM) of an etioplast from a young leaf of maize, Zea mays. A seed germinated in darkness produces pale growth, & such a plant is said to be etiolated. The leaves of etiolated plants contain special plastids called etioplasts. Instead of stacks of grana, as in a normal chloroplast, the etioplast's membranes form a crystalline array, as here. Normal chloro- plast structure is generated from an etioplast within a few hours of the etiolated plant being exposed to light. The white body within the etioplast is a starch grain. Magnification: x7140 at 35mm size, x50, 000 at 8x10-inch size. Reference: MICROCOSMOS, figure 6.15, page 117.

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Keywords: botanical science, botany, cell, cells, electron micrograph, etioplast, plant structure, plastid, plastids, starch, transmission

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