Abstract: The ultracytochemical localization during the fiber development in the culm of Phyllostachys edulis(Carr.) H.De Lehaie was studied using a lead phosphate precipitation technique.During the primary wall formation,ATPase deposits were distributed in the membrane systems such as plasmalemma,plasmalemma invagination,transfer vesicles,plasmodesmata,and nucleus and all kinds of organelles.In the early stage of secondary wall formation,the distributions of ATPase appeared in the multivesicular bodies and collapsed tonoplast,but remained in agglutinated chromatin.During the thickening of secondary wall,the plasmalemma invagination with ATPase would persist in the fiber of four-year-old culm,but not in that of six-year-old culm.In one to six-year-old culm,ATPase would visualized in plasmalemma,transfer vesicles,pits,and plasmodesmata and agglutinated chromatin of fiber,but would increased in chromatin with the increase of agglutinated degree.These findings indicated that ATPase played a key role on the cell wall formation of fiber in Phyllostachys edulis culm,and the formation of secondary wall was a typical programmed cell death (PCD),which was an energy dependent active process and was controlled by nuclear genes.In addition,the characteristic distribution of ATPase showed that the culm fiber of Phyllostachys edulis,different from the fibers of other woody plants,was a special long-lived cell.

Key words: Phyllostachys edulis, fiber, development, long-lived cell, ATPase