tylosislike

Tylosislike is an adjective used in plant anatomy and pathology to describe tissues or structures that resemble tyloses. Tyloses are balloon-like outgrowths of parenchyma cells that extend through bordered pits into the lumens of xylem vessels, often filling vessels and reducing or blocking water conduction. Tylosislike features are thus occlusions or blockages in xylem that resemble tyloses in appearance or effect but may arise through different cellular processes or materials, such as deposition of gums, resins, callose, phenolics, or other extracellular substances, or by abnormal cell proliferation at vessel walls.

In many woody plants, tylosis or tylosislike occlusions occur as a response to drought, wounding, pathogen attack, or aging. They can contribute to hydraulic impairment and reduced transpiration. The term is used when the observed occlusion matches tylosis morphology but lacks evidence of true parenchymous ballooning from adjacent vessels or when the occlusion is produced by alternative materials.

Diagnosis relies on histology: light microscopy with stains such as safranin, fast green, or aniline blue for callose; electron microscopy can reveal the origin of the occluding tissue.

The concept helps distinguish functional occlusions that block xylem from actual tyloses, and is relevant for understanding plant responses to stress and disease. See also tylosis for a discussion of the classic tylosis process.