spherosome Biol.
(ˈsfɪərəʊsəʊm)
Also sphæro-.
[ad. F. sphérome (P.-A. Dangeard 1919, in Compt. Rend. CLXIX. 1008): see sphero- and -some4.]
A cytoplasmic liquid droplet or cell organelle found in plant tissues, often associated with hydrolytic enzymic activity; the plant structure answering to the lysosome in animal tissues. Hence spheroˈsomal a.
| 1954 Biol. Abstr. XXVIII. 2398/1 The sphaerosomes are real and permanent cytoplasmic structures, and..are neither artifacts nor temporary storage droplets of fat or other lipoids. 1958 Exper. Cell Res. XV. 611 The spherosomes are seen as opaque white globules 0·7 µ in diameter, or as dark-rimmed spheres. 1966 Protoplasma LXII. 220 In the cells studied..spherosomal motion is rapid during the first 24 hr. 1976 Bell & Coombe tr. Strasburger's Textbk. Bot. (rev. ed.) 16 The nucleus, plastids, mitochondria, spherosomes and golgi bodies remain throughout within the cytoplasm. |