ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Drs . J. R. 

 Edwardson and F. W. Zettler whose guidance, encourage- 

 ment, and friendship made the fulfillment of my educa- 

 tional aspirations real. 



Special thanks are due to Mr. R. G. Christie and to 

 Drs. E. Hiebert, D. E. Purcifull, H. C. Aldrich and T. J. 

 Sheehan for their guidance and helpful suggestions in the 

 preparation of this dissertation. 



Appreciation is also extended to Mr. S. Christie, Mr. 

 W. Crawford, Ms. G. C. Wisler, Mr. C.-A. Chang, Ms. A. E. 

 Logan, Mr. M. S. Elliott and Ms. C. A. Baker for their 

 generous assistance during the course of this investigation. 

 I am also grateful to Dr. G. Erdos of the Microbiology and 

 Cell Science Department for technical assistance in immunogold 

 labelling and for supplying protein A-gold. 



I am indebted to my family for their moral and financial 

 support and especially to my wife for her help and companion- 

 ship and to my brothers for taking care of my mother 

 throughout these years. 



Appreciation is also expressed to the National Science 

 Council of the Republic of China and to the American Orchid 

 Society. 



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