A developmental process of bundle sheath chloroplasts in rice seedlings is examined and compared with that of mesophyll chloroplasts. Chloroplast development is accompanied with the leaf development. Both types of chloroplasts accumulate starch derived from endosperm in the early stages of the leaf development, and the accumulated starch is dissipated during the leaf development. In contrast with mesophyll chloroplasts, bundle sheath chloroplasts accumulate large amounts of starch, appear as spherical, amyloplast-like structures, and preserve the starch up to the late stages of the leaf development. It is suggested that bundle sheath chloroplasts of rice seedlings are specialized in the accumulation and supply of storage starch, which is presumed to be consumed for the leaf development.
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Miyake et al. (1976) studied this question.