Abstract: Cell degeneration often occurred in Zea mays L. leaf procambium in various stages of development and could be classified either in the form of autolysis or condensation. In the autolytic degeneration the cells underwent a series of events from the appearance of prominant autophagie activity in the early stages, accompanied by a decrease of ribosomes and electron density of cytoplasm to the final stages of autolysis resulting in disorganization and disappearnce of all protoplasmic components, of which the nuclei and plasmalemma were the last to disappear. In the condensed type the initiation of cell degeneration was accompanied by an increase in the cytoplasmic density. As cell degeneration progressed, the protoplasmic components appeared to disintegrate and disappear in an orderly fashion i.e. dictyosomes and ER disorganized first, followed by plastids, nuclei and some mitochondria. The plasmalemma, ribosomes and mitochondria were still recognizable as the cell being crashed by the surrounding cells during the final stages of degeneration.

Key words: Zea mays, Leaf, Procambial cell, Degeneration, Uhrastructure