CYTOCHEMICAL LOCALIZATION OF GLUTAMATE DEHYDROGENASES DURING CARPOPHORE DEVELOPMENT IN COPRINUS CINEREUS

SummaryThe NAD‐ and NADP‐linked glutamate dehydrogenases were detected in frozen sections of carpophore tissues by means of tetrazolium salt. Material at all stages of development was examined. From the earliest stages NAD‐glutamate dehydrogenase was uniformly distributed in the basidial cells of the hymenium, and as the carpophore developed an increasing proportion of cells of the subhymenium came to express enzyme activity. The NADP‐glutamate dehydrogenase (NADP‐GDH) was initially limited to basidial cells in isolated patches of the hymenium. As development proceeded the proportion of basidia exhibiting NADP‐GDH activity increased, as did the proportion of subhymenial cells showing this enzyme activity. No NADP‐GDH activity was detectable in sections of stipe tissue.