Acid invertase localization in leaves of the fern Pteris deflexa Link

The localization of invertase, a key enzyme in plant carbohydrate metabolism, has been established in several higher plants, but there are no reports of it in ferns. The aim of the present work was to establish the localization of the previously reported acid invertase activity of Pteris deflexa in fronds tissues and to compare the findings with invertase localization in higher plants. Acid invertase, localized by immuno-histochemical and histochemical techniques on fresh tissues, was evident in vascular tissue, mainly in phloem. It was also detected in parenchymatic, sclerenchymatic and epidermic cells of petiole, rachis and rachis branches as well as in veins of leaf blades. Our results demonstrate that P. deflexa acid invertase localization is the same to that of higher plants. Hence, potential roles of the fern enzyme in relation to the storage and utilization of sucrose and to control carbon flux could be the same of those proposed to higher plants.