Labeling tunel method . the cell ultrastructural changes were similar to apoptosis in animal cells : the apical meristemetic cells underwent the programmed cell death . this was first detected in the apex cells of apical meristem , while peripheral cells differentiated gradually into different parts of a floral bud . but all the cells in the floral bud were subjected to the pcd process before it developed into a complete flower . 140bp dna fragment was found to deposit in apical bud during the plant development . the most important role of caspase - 8 was detected by western blot , and the expression of the procaspase - 8 was time - related with the dna frgmentation and the transformation from vegetative to the reproductive growth . these results suggested that pcd was an active process during the differentiation of apical meristem , and the senescence observed in the apical bud was due to the pcd process 顯微超微結(jié)構(gòu)研究表明,短日照條件下豌豆頂芽的衰老過程是從營養(yǎng)生長錐向花芽的轉(zhuǎn)化,而用dna原位末端標(biāo)記tunel caspase - 8 western blot和140 bp dna片斷積累的試驗結(jié)果證明,轉(zhuǎn)化為花芽的整個生長錐細(xì)胞發(fā)生了編程性死亡pcd ,而且其最頂端部分細(xì)胞首先發(fā)生pcd ,而頂端周圍的分生組織細(xì)胞逐漸分化出花芽的各部分,但頂芽最后并沒有發(fā)育成為完整的花,所有細(xì)胞就都發(fā)生pcd ,從而頂芽衰老。