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New and unusual forms of calcium oxalate raphide crystals in the plant kingdom

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Abstract

Calcium oxalate crystals in higher plants occur in five major forms namely raphides, styloids, prisms, druses and crystal sand. The form, shape and occurrence of calcium oxalate crystals in plants are species- and tissue-specific, hence the presence or absence of a particular type of crystal can be used as a taxonomic character. So far, four different types of needle-like raphide crystals have been reported in plants. The present work describes two new and unusual forms of raphide crystals from the tubers of Dioscorea polystachya—six-sided needles with pointed ends (Type V) and four-sided needles with beveled ends (Type VI). Both of these new types of needles are distinct from the other four types by each having a surrounding membrane that envelopes a bundle of 10–20 closely packed thin crystalline sheets. The previously known four types of needles have solid or homogenous crystalline material, surrounded by a membrane or lamellate sheath called a crystal chamber. Only the Type VI crystals have beveled ends and the needles of the other five types have pointed ends.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Grant Number P50AT006268 from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicines (NCCAM), the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and by partial support from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Specific Cooperative Research Agreement number U01 FD004246-01. We thank Ahmed M. Galal and Amar Chittiboyina of National Center for Natural Products Research, University of Mississippi, MS for helpful suggestions; and Rooban Thirumalai and Amanda Lawrence of Institute for Imaging and Analytical Technologies (I2AT), Mississippi State University, MS for help in FE-SEM imaging and elemental analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Center for Natural Products Research, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, University, MS, 38677, USA

    Vijayasankar Raman & Ikhlas A. Khan

  2. Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology and Microscopy and NanoImaging Facility, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, 50011-1020, USA

    Harry T. Horner

  3. Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, University, MS, 38677, USA

    Ikhlas A. Khan

  4. Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Ikhlas A. Khan

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  1. Vijayasankar Raman
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  2. Harry T. Horner
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  3. Ikhlas A. Khan
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Correspondence to Ikhlas A. Khan.

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Raman, V., Horner, H.T. & Khan, I.A. New and unusual forms of calcium oxalate raphide crystals in the plant kingdom. J Plant Res 127, 721–730 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-014-0654-y

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