Question

In cereals, one or few outermost layers of the endosperm become highly specialised morphologically and physiological and constitute the aleurone tissue. Which of the following statements regarding aleurone tissue(or aleurone cells) is incorrect?

• A. Aleurone cells are characterised by the presence of thin walls and vacuolated cytoplasm with single small nucleus
• B. Aleurone grains, rich in proteins are present in these cells
• C. Aleurone grains present in aleurone cells are closely associated with sphaerosomes
• D. During seed germination, the reserve food of endosperm is digested by the activity of certain hydrolytic enzymes secreted by aleurone cells

Answer 1

The correct option is A Aleurone cells are characterised by the presence of thin walls and vacuolated cytoplasm with single small nucleus

The aleurone cells are characterised by the presence of thick walls and non-vacuolated cytoplasm interconnected by plasmodesmata. The most prominent organelles of these cells are aleurone grains, followed by sphaerosomes. Aleurone grains are surrounded by a single unit membrane which is closely associated with sphaerosomes. Aleurone grains possess two kinds of inclusion, besides the ground substance: (i) Globoids, present within the globoidal cavities, contain phytic and lipids; (ii) Protein-carbohydrate bodies, which are 1−1.5μ1−1.5μm in diameter. The ground substance also contains high concentration of protein, but it is less than that in the protein-carbohydrate bodies.
Aleurone tissue has received considerable importance in studies of plant hormone action. During seed germination the reserve food(starch and protein) in the endosperm cells is digested by the activity of certain hydrolytic enzymes(amylases and proteases) which are secreted by the aleurone cells.

So, the correct answer is 'Option A'