Luminal chloroplast connections with endoplasmic reticulum-like cisterns and cell wall in Dryopteris filix-mas gametophytes.

In young gametophytes of the fern Dryopteris filix-mas the periplastid space of some chloroplasts was found to open directly into endoplasmic reticulum-like cisterns and into the cell wall. This phenomenon seemed to be dependent on illumination but not on the kind of the nutrient medium. Findings suggest that chloroplasts may produce and transport some constituents of the cell wall.