Localization of intranucleolar DNA in root meristematic cells of Allium cepa.

The problem of the localization of intranucleolar DNA in root meristematic cells of Allium cepa has been investigated under both light and electron microscopy following formaldehyde fixation coupled with deoxyribonuclease extraction. The observations reveal that most, if not all, of the intranucleolar DNA is located inside small lacunar spaces confined to the fibrillar regions of the nucleolar mass. These results would be consistent with the view that the DNA-containing lacunar spaces in question correspond, in fact, to cross-sections of a meandering channel containing the extended nucleolar organizing segment of the nucleolar chromosome.