TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (TEM) STUDY ON RUBBER PARTICLES IN LATICIFERS OF NATIVE Hevea SPECIES

A.R. Shamsul Bahri*. , C.W. Ong, M.S. Jamilah and M.M. Ariffin

Abstract

TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (TEM) STUDY ON RUBBER PARTICLES IN LATICIFERS OF NATIVE Hevea SPECIES

1. Shamsul Bahri.¹ , C.W. Ong², M.S. Jamilah¹ and M.M. Ariffin¹

1Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030, Kuala Terengganu, 21030, Terengganu 2Rubber Research Institute Malaysia, Malaysian Rubber Board, P.O.Box 10150, 50908 Kuala Lumpur

ABSTRACT

A semi-quantitative effort in characterizing rubber particles from native Hevea species using a Transmission Electron Microscope had been carried out. Eight Hevea species,

1. brasiliensis, H. benthamiana, H. pauciflora, H. camargoana, H. guinensis, H. rigidifoli, H. nitida and H.spruceana from Hevea germplasm in Bt Arang, Selangor were selected and prepared for TEM observation. H. benthamiana and H. brasiliensis exhibit large rubber particles with pear-shapes. Rubber particle size in eight Hevea species ranged between 350 - 700 nm. Particle size distribution in native Hevea species ranged from unimodal to multimodal curves. H. pauciflora and H. camargoana showed a unimodal pattern, H. rigidofolia and H. spruceana a bimodal pattern whereas the rest show multimodal particle size distribution. Rubber particle discrepancies in the laticifers of native Hevea species could be used as a baseline for Hevea breeding purposes.

Keywords : Laticifers, Native Hevea Species, Rubber