In our previous paper it was described that the multiplasmic lines were successfully bred, biochemical markers were found, and morphological characters were described. In this paper, results of electron microscope observations of mitochondria are reported.

Materials used in this experiment were yellow young shoots for 11 of multiplasmic lines. The tip of yellow young shoots was taken as sample.

The transmission electron microscope observation on mitochondria in young shoots demonstrates that there is no significant difference in the structure of mitochondrial outer membrane, inner membrane, cristae and matrix among these eleven inbreds. The difference in size between (su1) Mo17 etc. and the control (Fli) Mo17 is not significant, but significant in terms of the number of mitchondria per cell. This means that the cytoplasm affects the growth of mitochondria. F-test demonstrates there is no significant difference in size of mitochondria among these eleven inbreds, either, while the difference in number of mitochondria per cell is highly significant, which is to say that the degree of nucleo-cytoplasmic interaction in different inbreds is not the same. See Tables 1-4.

Table 1. t-test in mitochondrion size (unit: um ) between (su1) Mo17 etc and (Fli) Mo17
 

	(Fli) Mo17	(sul) Mo17	(su2) Mo17	(bt1) Mo17	(Pop) Mo17	(wx) Mo17	(Teo) Mo17	(T) Mo17	(S) Mo17	(C) Mo17	(21A) Mo17
x	0.684	0.663	0.797	0.669	0.628	0.700	0.658	0.764	0.782	0.746	0.783
n	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20
s2	1.422	0.452	3.660	1.115	2.212	1.286	0.463	2.031	0.994	0.541	1.761
t		0.430	1.420	0.270	0.831	0.269	0.538	1.221	1.790	1.252	157

Table 2. F-test in mitochondrion size among 11 maize lines
 

	SS	DF	MS	F
treat interval	SSa=28.4362	10	MSa=2.8436
treat internal	SSe=106.3851	220	MSe=10.6385
total	SSt=131.2213	230

F0.05=1.910 F0.01=2.472
 

Table 3. t-test in number of mitochondrion per a cell between (su1) Mo17 etc. and (Fli) Mo17
 

	(Fli)  Mo17	(sul) Mo17	(su2) Mo17	(bt1) Mo17	(Pop) Mo17	(wx) Mo17	(Teo) Mo17	(T) Mo17	(S) Mo17	(C) Mo17	(21A) Mo17
x	22.50	21.2	30.6	24.6	44.0	20.40	37.8	33.7	26.1	23.2	40.7
n	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20
s2	1.83	3.15	12.26	4.325	31.22	3.51	20.22	16.10	8.71	2.62	27.35
t		1.949	6.824	2.828	22.809	2.932	12.928	7.427	6.022	2.015	22.615
degree of  significant			**	*	**	*	**	**	**		**

Table 4. F-test in number of mitochondrion per a cell among 11 maize lines
 

	SS	DF	MS	F
treat interval	SSa=8616.57	10	MSa=2.8436
treat internal	SSe=1702.60	220	MSe=10.6385
total	SSt=10319.77	230

F0.05=1.910 F0.01=2.472

Other appearances were also observed (Plate I).

Plate I. A. A cell in mid-stage of dividing. B. Starch grains in a cell. C. Starch grains in an amyloplast. D. A mitochondrion just dividing. E. A dividing mitochondrion. F. Plasmodesmata. [Note: A-Amyloplast, CW-Cell Wall, Ch-Chromosome, M-Mitochondrion, P-Plasmodesmata, SG-Starch Grain, V-Vacuole. (X3000-25,000)]

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