Associations between microbodies and a system of cytoplasmic tubules in oil-body cells of Marchantia.

Preliminary observations on differentiating oil-body cells of Marchantia sp. revealed that the cytoplasm possesses conventional cytoplasmic microtubules as well as a greater number of other tubules, which average 35 nm in diameter and appear in cytoplasmic regions rich in endoplasmic reticulum. These tubules, at a stage of active synthesis of oil, increase in number, may form well-organized bundles traversing the cytoplasm close to the vacuole, and show a preferential spatial relationship to elongated microbodies. One layer of densely arrayed cytoplasmic tubules surrounds the microbodies partially or totally. Fine links bridge the tubules to one another or some of them to the microbody bounding membrane.