EN
Root meristem nucleoli from soybean (Glycine max. cv. Aldana) seedlings germinated for 3 days at 25°C and then for 4 days at 10°C or still at 25°C (control) were examined. Chill was observed to reduce root meristematic zone growth 15-fold. Nucleoli doubled their volume at 10°C. Autoradiographic studies showed that after 20 min 3H-uridine incubation at 10°C, incorporation of this precursor (postincubation time 0) into nucleoli of chilled seedlings was 4.7 times weaker than in the control. After 80 min postincubation in nonradioactive medium, the cytoplasm became the most intensely labelled cell area in the control material, while in chilled roots the nucleoli were still most intensely labelled and the cytoplasm was 11 times less labelled than in the control. The increase in nucleoli volume at 10°C is suggested to result from greater cold-induced inhibition of the dynamics of maturation and transport of ribosome subunits than of rRNA synthesis dynamics. Ultrastructural studies of chilled seedling nucleoli showed a significant decrease in the fibrillar component and an increase in the granular component, forming characteristic clusters. They are supposed to correspond to shortened and condensed pre-rRNA transcription complexes (compacted "Christmas trees").