Characterization of anatomy, ultrastructure and lignin microdistribution in Forsythia suspensa

Forsythia suspensa, as a traditional Chinese medicinal herb, has been studied extensively. In this work, morphological and anatomical features of F. suspensa stem were examined by light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that the slenderness and Runkel ratio is 51 and 0.67, respectively. Anatomical observations indicated that F. suspensa is diffuse-porous wood. Helical thickenings and alternate intervessel pits are present on vessel cell wall. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images exhibited that the fiber cell wall is typically differentiated into three layers: middle lamella (ML), primary wall (P) and secondary wall (S1, S2 and S3), and the staining intensities represent differing lignin concentrations. Also, the confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDXA) were used to investigate the lignin distribution in cell wall qualitatively and semi-quantitatively. Confocal images (488 nm) revealed a high level of lignin autofluorescence in the cell corner middle lamella (CCML), with lower levels of fluorescence in the compound middle lamella (CML) and S2 region. The results from SEM-EDXA demonstrated that lignin concentration ratio in different regions of fiber wall is 1.3 (CCML):1.1 (CML):1 (S2).