Acridine Orange-Induced Autophagy in Plant Cells

Prolonged binding of acridine orange is known to cause structural abnormality in cell organelles. The present study records vacuolar autophagy of cytoplasmic organelles, as revealed under electron microscope, in the root tip cells of Vicia faba treated with aqueous solution of acridine orange. It is proposed that the vacuolar autophagy may be the mechanism responsible for organised transport of cell organelles into vacuoles/lysosomes.