Formation and Structure of Reaction Wood Fibers Forming No G-Layer in Some Hardwood Species

Abstract

Woody plants develop special tissues, which are called reaction wood, on the inclined stems or branches. Tension wood, reaction wood for hardwoods, can be characterized by the presence of gelatinous (G) -fibers which contain a thickened cellulosic inner layer (G-layer) [1–3]. However, some species of primitive hardwoods have been reported to frequently lack of G-fibers [4–7]. No detailed information is available about the structure and chemical composition of tention wood fibers in these species. In this paper, anatomical features of the tention wood fibers in three species forming no G-layer were observed. In addition, distribution of guaiacyl- and syringyl-type lignins in the cell walls of both normal and tention wood fibers was examined by visible light (VL) combined with microspectrophotometry after the Wiesner and Mäule reactions.