1. Many kinds of plant cell have the ability to amplify the surface area of their plasma membrane by developing labyrinths of cell wall ingrowths, around which the plasma membrane is wrapped. It is believed that this "wall-membrane apparatus", by giving an enlarged surface area for carrier-mediated trans-membrane fluxes of solutes, alleviates "bottlenecks" in the transport systems of the plant. Cells with this adaptation are called "Transfer cells". The example in this screen is in the haustorial "foot" of the sporophyte generation of the moss Funaria, where it absorbs food supplies from its host gametophyte generation. The sample has been prepared by freeze-substitution. Because of the better quality of preservation, the plasma membrane is smoothly confluent around the wall ingrowths. The wall labyrinth is attached to the parental wall at several places in this micrograph.

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