Fruit Development And Oil Bodies Formation In The Fruit Of Pistacia Chinensis

Pistacia chinensis Bunge, a kind of woody oil plant, is one of main raw material plants that can produce biological diesel. In this plant, oil accumulation in the fruit has been identified to be closely related to the fruit development. Consequently, Pistacia chinensis Bunge was chosen as research object in this study. From the start of flower budding, the developments of male flower and female flower, pollination and fruit growing (fruit volume, fruit weight, fruit color) were deeply recorded. Meanwhile, the development of pericarp, seed coat and embryo were detected and studied for further steps. The time and locations of oil accumulation in the fruit were also observed by using the method of histochemistry and nile red fluorescent dye staining. Therefore, based on all the information we got, formation and accumulation of oil in the fruit can be ultra-microscopically analyzed.Pistacia chinensis Bunge was dioecious and wind pollinated. The florescence was from March 24 to April 6. The development of the fruit includes an expanding process (April 15 to May 5), two rapid weight increasing periods (April 15 to May 5, and late July to late September), and two peak periods of fruit dropping (April 25 to May 2, and early June to mid-June). During the time of early September to early October, the maturation of the fruit started, and the color of the fruit would change following the order as below:yellow-green, pink, red, blue-purple, aerugo. The fruit of Pistacia chinensis Bunge contains lots of oil which mainly exist as oil bodies in the parts of pericarp, seed coat and cotyledon. By using light microscopy, it is observed that oil in the pericarp was begun to be accumulated from the late of fruit development, and increased gradually when the color of the fruits turned red. The oil in the seed coat was accumulated in the early stage of the development. And in embryos, oil bodies were firstly detected in globular embryo. Through transmission electron microscope, in seed coat and cotyledon, oil bodies were identified to be synthesized in endoplasmic reticulum. And in pericarp, oil bodies happens in endoplasmic reticulum, plasmid and vacuole. Through nile red fluorescent dye staining, it has been observed that oil bodies from endoplasmic reticulum were existed as small single units. In addition, there were also protein bodies stored in seed coat and cotyledon, which developed later than oil bodies. And in pericarp, seed coat and cotyledon, fewer starch granules were observed.