Organization of the nucleoli of soybean root meristematic cells at different states of their activity

Internal organization of a nucleolus changes along with rRNA transcriptional activity. These changes mainly concern qualitative and quantitative alternations of three main nucleolar components: fibrillar centres (FC), dense fibrillar component (DFC) and granular component (GC). In the present work quantitative measurements of the number and sizes of FCs and DFCs in nucleoli of root meristematic cells of soybean seedlings grown at (1) chilling conditions that reduce transcriptional activity of soybean nucleoli (temp. of 10 °C) and at (2) conditions that increase this activity (recovery at optimal temp. of 25 °C after previous chilling), even more than (3) the control, have been carried out. Morphometric measurements showed that the highest number of FCs and DFCs was in the most active nucleoli, while the smallest number – in those with the lowest activity. The average size of an individual FC was similar in all nucleoli regardless of their transcriptional activity, that of the individual DFC varied, being bigger in the nucleoli of the chilled plants and smallest in those of the recovered plants. The numbers of FCs and DFCs seem to be indicators of transcriptional activity of plant nucleoli – the higher number of FCs and DFCs the more active nucleoli.