Fresh tissue of Calystegia silvatica frozen, fractured and freeze-dried, and examined by scanning electron microscopy, shows laticifers filled with a mass of latex particles. Exudate bled from the plant and viewed by Nomarski interference contrast microscopy also reveals a particulate latex. Experiments on the effects of fixation and solvent dehydration show the latex is susceptible to chemical manipulation, thus making it difficult to prepare for thin sectioning work. In general, aldehydes destabilize the latex particles making them prone to fusion. This effect is especially marked following acrolein treatment, which may also cause the latex to exude from the laticifer on freeze-drying. Fixatives containing OsO4, potassium dichromate, and uranyl acetate usually result in only a small change in the size of latex particles. In contrast, KMnO4 destroys the latex. Subsequent dehydration of the latex in acetone or ethanol fuses the latex particles and usually completely extracts the latex. The effect of chemical treatment on the latex is correlated with the composition of the latex particles, as determined by histochemical and fluorescence microscopy methods.
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Condon et al. (1989) studied this question.
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