Origin and Development of Phloem and Xylem as Revealed in 3D Models of the Vascular Cylinder in Primary Roots of Oryza sativa L. cv. Hitomebore

Yasushi Miki, Susumu Saito, Teruo Niki and Daniel K. Gladish

Plants 2026, 15(4), 607; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15040607

Figure 4. Phloem system. A three-dimensional object was reconstructed from serial sections of a rice vascular cylinder (VC). View angle from above: 60°. Pericycle (GreenYellow), protophloem mother cells (DarkGoldenrod), protophloem sieve tube (Tomato), sieve tube companion cells (Gold), and metaphloem sieve tubes (SandyBrown). Selected initials and plerome cells are shown in various distinct colors at the apex. The apex of the vascular cylinder (AVC) = 0 on the scale. (A) Virtual sectional view of the 3D reconstruction. (B) Bird’s-eye view of the 3D reconstruction. (C) Bird’s-eye view of the 3D reconstruction with the pericycle removed.