• Applied Microscopy
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.21-28
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• 2008

Carnivorous plants vary in their unique features of morphology, ultrastructure and biochemical properties by species. Furthermore, prey-capturing mechanism as well as structural and physiological adaptations have been used for grouping various carnivorous species. In Drosera plants, glandular trichomes, which develop in the leaf epidermis, are known to play the most important role during the prey capturing process. The present study examined such trichomes, focusing on the glandular type, in leaves of Drosera anglica using scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Three types of rudimentary glandular trichomes were found to develop within the folded leaf primordia and immature leaf during early development. The first type, stalked glandular trichomes (Type I), occurred on the margin and upper epidermis of the leaf. With maturation, the longest glandular trichomes having lengthy stalks, ca. $2.2{\sim}5.1\;mm$, developed along the margin, while shorter stalked trichomes, ca. up to $200\;{\mu}m$, were found on the inner leaf blade. The shorter ones consisted of a globose head having two layers of secretory cells, parenchyma bell cells and tracheids and a multicellular stalk. The stalks gradually decreased in length in centripetal fashion. The second type, Type II, having ca. $15{\sim}30\;{\mu}m$ short stalks, also developed along the inner blade. Both types secreted mucilage from the secretory cells which had a thin cell wall and cuticle layer. The sessile six-celled glandular trichomes were the third type, Type III, and were $25{\sim}40\;{\mu}m$ in length. They were distributed most commonly throughout the upper and lower epidermis, petiole and even on the stalk surfaces of the first two types of trichomes. The third type was also found to be involved in the active secretion. In prey capturing leaves, all trichome types secreted substances through thin cuticles in the head cell wall, which exhibited relatively loose wall components.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.57-64
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• 2009

The trapping leaves of Drosera capture insects by secreting sticky mucilage from numerous glandular trichomes (GTs) that are developed on the leaf epidermis. The present study examines and compares the structural features of those trichomes in Drosera binata and D. pygmy with the use of light and electron microscopy. The study focuses primarily on the development and differentiation pattern of the GTs during growth. Upon examination, the upper and lower epidermis were readily distinguishable by the features of GTs in developing leaves. In particular, the GTs were dense in the upper epidermis and along the leaf margin. In D. binata, the capitate GTs with elongated stalk and sessile peltate GTs were found most commonly, whereas only capitate GTs with varying degrees of the stalk length were observed in D. pygmy. Up to ca. $2.2{\sim}3.4\;mm$ long capitate GTs were seen in the leaf margins of D. binata and ca. $3.7{\sim}4.2\;mm$ long GTs having racket-like head with adaxial hemispheric structures, otherwise known as tentacles, were noted in the leaf margin of D. pygmy. The peltate GTs were found to be distributed in the lower epidermis of D. binata. In both species, head cells were dense with cytoplasm containing high numbers of Golgi bodies, ER, mitochondria and small vesicles. Secretory materials accumulated within numerous small vacuoles, then fused together to form a single large vacuole, which serves as a secretory cavity. Flection movement of the marginal GTs and leaf blade GTs, and increased mucilage secretion from the head cells upon contact with prey during the capturing process are considered to be major factors in their active insectivorous mechanism. The findings of this study will be useful in comparisons to similar findings in other species that form adhesive trapping leaves, such as Drosophyllum or Pinguicula., further contributing a better understanding of the function and structure of the trapping leaves of carnivorous plants.