Periplasmic multilamellar membranous structures in Nicotiana tabacum L. pollen grains treated with Ni²âº or Cu²âº.

Essential trace elements Ni(2+) and Cu(2+) can block pollen germination without causing cell death. Mechanisms of this effect remain unclear. Using TEM, we studied the effects of Ni(2+) or Cu(2+) treatment on the ultrastructure of the aperture regions in tobacco pollen preparing to germinate in vitro, since in these zones, the main fluxes of water, ions, and metabolites cross the plasmalemma. Neither Ni(2+) nor Cu(2+) altered the cytoplasm ultrastructure, but both affected the reorganization of apertural periplasm during pollen activation. Numerous multilamellar membranous structures continuous with the plasma membrane could be seen in hydrated but not yet activated pollen. When the normal activation was completed, the structures disappeared and the plasmalemma became smooth. In the presence of 1 mM Ni(2+) or 100 µM Cu(2+), these structures preserved its original appearance. It is assumed to be the storage form for the membrane material, which is to provide an initial phase of the pollen tube growth. Ni(2+) and Cu(2+) affect the utilization of these membranes, thereby, blocking the pollen germination.

Poxvirus membrane biogenesis: rupture not disruption.

Enveloped viruses acquire their membrane from the host by budding at, or wrapping by, cellular membranes. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images, however, suggested that the prototype member of the poxviridae, vaccinia virus (VACV), may create its membrane 'de novo' with free open ends exposed in the cytosol. Within the frame of the German-wide priority programme we re-addressed the biogenesis and origin of the VACV membrane using electron tomography (ET), cryo-EM and lipid analysis of purified VACV using mass spectrometry (MS). This review discussed how our data led to a model of unconventional membrane biogenesis involving membrane rupture and the generation of a single open membrane from open membrane intermediates. Lipid analyses of purified virus by MS suggest an ER origin with a relatively low cholesterol content compared with whole cells, confirming published data. Unlike previous reports using thin-layer chromatography, no depletion of phosphatidylethanolamine was detected. We did detect, however, an enrichment for phosphatidic acid, diacylglycerol and phosphatidylinositol in the virion. Our data are discussed in the light of other pathogens that may requirecellular membrane rupture during their intracellular life cycle.