Development of sperm cells in barley

1975 ◽  
Vol 53 (10) ◽  
pp. 1051-1062 ◽  
Author(s):  
David D. Cass ◽  
Ilana Karas

Ultrastructural events in barley sperm development were examined from the uninucleate microspore stage to establishment of two mature sperm cells in pollen grains. Microspore mitosis produces a vegetative nucleus and a naked generative cell, both embedded in vegetative cell cytoplasm. The generative cell membrane is enclosed by vegetative cell membrane. The generative cell, at first apparently unattached, becomes attached to the pollen wall and acquires a cell wall by centripetal vesicle accumulation. Wall formation may be complete at the time of generative cell karyokinesis; karyokinesis occurs while the generative cell is attached to the pollen wall. Cytokinesis of the generative cell is delayed. The subsequent stage is a binucleate, attached generative cell with a wall. Generative cell cytokinesis appears to involve formation of a partition between the two sperm nuclei. Eventual complete separation of the sperm cells occurs only after the two-celled derivative of the generative cell detaches from the pollen wall. Final stages in sperm cell separation are considered to result from degradation of the partitioning and surrounding wall, not from furrowing of a naked binucleate generative cell according to previous suggestions. Mature plastids were not observed in the generative cell or the sperms.

1971 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 289-301
Author(s):  
JEAN M. SANGER ◽  
W. T. JACKSON

When microspores of the African blood lily divide, they form pollen grains which consist of 2 cells of unequal size. This is accomplished when the microspore nucleus is displaced from the centre of the grain prior to division. The displacement is always towards the side of the grain opposite the furrow, and large vacuoles form in the cytoplasm between the furrow and the nucleus. During cell division the cell plate curves around one daughter nucleus and fuses with the pollen wall to enclose the generative cell. The cell-plate attachment always occurs with the wall that is opposite the furrow of the grain. Most of the microspore's organelles become incorporated in the larger vegetative cell, whereas the generative cell has few, if any, plastids and only a small number of other organelles. The wall around the generative cell is composed of finely fibrillar material enclosed within 2 unit membranes. The generative cell eventually becomes detached from the pollen wall, becomes spheroidal, and moves to a position near the centre of the pollen grain. At the same time, the large vacuoles disappear from the vegetative cell and the number of organelles increases substantially.


2014 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krystyna Zając

Ultrastructural changes in <em>Arabidopsis thaliana</em> pollen, between late microspore stage and mature pollen stage were described. When the generative cell was peeled off from the intine, it was of spherical shape and had all usual organelles with the exception of plastids. The cytoplasm transformation of the vegetative cell included an increase in the number of mitochondria and changes in the accumulation of starch and lipid bodies. The starch plastids were observed at the bicellular and early tricellular pollen stages and next starch was utilized during the maturation procces. The lipid bodies of the vegetative cell form a very regular sheath around the generative cell and then, around the sperm cells. Before anthesis the lipid bodies were dispersed within the whole vegetative cell cytoplasm.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chieko Goto ◽  
Kentaro Tamura ◽  
Satsuki Nishimaki ◽  
Naoki Yanagisawa ◽  
Kumi Matsuura-Tokita ◽  
...  

AbstractA putative nuclear lamina protein, KAKU4, modulates nuclear morphology in Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings but its physiological significance is unknown. KAKU4 was strongly expressed in mature pollen grains, each of which has a vegetative cell and two sperm cells. KAKU4 protein was highly abundant on the envelopes of vegetative nuclei (VNs) and less abundant on the envelopes of sperm cell nuclei (SCNs) in pollen grains and elongating pollen tubes. VN is irregularly shaped in wild-type pollen. However, KAKU4 deficiency caused it to become more spherical. These results suggest that the dense accumulation of KAKU4 is responsible for the irregular shape of the VNs. After a pollen grain germinates, the VN and SCNs migrate to the tip of the pollen tube. In the wild type, the VN preceded the SCNs in 91–93% of the pollen tubes, whereas in kaku4 mutants, the VN trailed the SCNs in 39–58% of the pollen tubes. kaku4 pollen was less competitive than wild-type pollen after pollination, although it had an ability to fertilize. Taken together, our results suggest that controlling the nuclear shape in vegetative cells of pollen grains by KAKU4 ensures the orderly migration of the VN and sperm cells in pollen tubes.HighlightThe nuclear envelope protein KAKU4 is involved in controlling the migration order of vegetative nuclei and sperm cells in pollen tubes, affecting the competitive ability of pollen for fertilization.


Genome ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 154-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akio Kato

By spraying tassels of maize (Zea mays L.) with a trifluralin solution before flowering, viable bicellular pollen grains (with one vegetative nucleus and one mitotically arrested diploid generative cell) were produced. Fertilization between a central cell (2n) of diploid plants and the mitotically arrested generative cell (2n) of the bicellular pollen induced by trifluralin treatment was detected by the presence of shriveled kernels on pollinated ears. A covered method (tassels covered with aluminum foil for 24 h after spraying) and a non-covered method were compared, and the non-covered treatment with 0.2-0.4% trefanocide solutions was the most effective treatment in producing viable bicellular pollen. About 40-50% of the kernels were shriveled on pollinated ears from the treatments. Chromosome counts on seedlings obtained from 0.3% non-covered treatment revealed 24% were triploid and 4% were aneuploid (2n = 19, 21, and 22).Key words: aneuploid, bicellular pollen, trifluralin, triploid, Zea mays L.


2015 ◽  
Vol 47 (1–2) ◽  
pp. 163-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Charzyńska ◽  
Joanna Maleszka

The development of microspores and pollen grains lasts in <i>Tradescantia bracteata in vivo</i> from the tetrad stage to pollen shedding about 14 days. This including 7 days of the microspore life cycle. In stamens excised and placed on a medium the microspores and pollen grains develop normally for at least 3 days. <sup>3</sup>H-thymidine is added into medium culture. DNA synthesis m the microspore nucleus is demonstrated 6 days after tetrad formation so at the end of microspore interphase. During synthesis the nucleus lies at one end of the long axis of the vacuolated microspore. Synthesis ends before migration of the nucleus to the proximal pole of the microspore where mitosis begins. Incorporation of <sup>3</sup>H-thymidine into the generative nucleus is noted in two-celled pollen grains as early as about 24h after the end of microspore division. During DNA synthesis the generative cell is rounded and is still adjacent to the pollen grain wall. DNA synthesis ends before separation of the generative cell from the sporoderm, before the generative nucleus starts to elongate. <sup>3</sup>H-thymidine is not incorporated into the vegetative nucleus in stamens developing <i>in vitro</i>.


1993 ◽  
Vol 71 (8) ◽  
pp. 1048-1055 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. L. Polowick ◽  
V. K. Sawhney

The maturation of tomato pollen grains encompassed several ultrastructural changes. The generative cell separated from the intine and was free in the cytoplasm of the vegetative cell. This process coincided with the appearance of starch in plastids and the division of elongated mitochondria. This stage was followed by a second phase of vacuolation in the vegetative cell cytoplasm. Starch was still abundant at this stage, as were mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and ribosomes. Lipid droplets were the prominent feature of mature pollen grains. Each droplet was surrounded by rough ER (RER), suggesting the role of RER in lipid accumulation and mobilization. Long stretches of ER were present at early stages of maturation, and stacks of up to 50 strands of RER were abundant in mature pollen. The plastids in mature pollen were devoid of starch and had few internal membranes. Mitochondria were abundant and spherical with parallel cristae. In many cases, the cytoplasm at the periphery of the mature pollen grain was dense, forming a distinct zone, and contained only ER. The generative cell cytoplasm had mitochondria, ER, and actin-like filaments but no plastids. The pollen wall at maturity had a lamellated foot layer, a lightly sculptured tectum, and broad intine. The intine was layered in the region of the pollen aperture. Key words: Lycopersicon esculentum, pollen grains, tomato, ultrastructure.


2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (20) ◽  
pp. 6273-6281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chieko Goto ◽  
Kentaro Tamura ◽  
Satsuki Nishimaki ◽  
Daisuke Maruyama ◽  
Ikuko Hara-Nishimura

Abstract A putative component protein of the nuclear lamina, KAKU4, modulates nuclear morphology in Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings, but its physiological significance is unknown. KAKU4 was highly expressed in mature pollen grains, each of which has a vegetative cell and two sperm cells. KAKU4 protein was highly abundant on the envelopes of vegetative nuclei and less abundant on the envelopes of sperm cell nuclei in pollen grains and elongating pollen tubes. Vegetative nuclei are irregularly shaped in wild-type pollen. However, KAKU4 deficiency caused them to become more spherical. After a pollen grain germinates, the vegetative nuclei and sperm cells enter and move along the pollen tube. In the wild type, the vegetative nucleus preceded the sperm cell nuclei in &gt;90% of the pollen tubes, whereas, in kaku4 mutants, the vegetative nucleus preceded the sperm cell nuclei in only about half of the pollen tubes. kaku4 pollen was less competitive for fertilization than wild-type pollen after pollination. These results led us to hypothesize that the nuclear shape in vegetative cells of pollen grains affects the orderly migration of the vegetative nucleus and sperm cells in pollen tubes.


1984 ◽  
Vol 62 (12) ◽  
pp. 2493-2513 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Raghavan

Protein synthetic activity during maturation, germination, and embryogenic phases of pollen grains of Hyoscyamus niger (L.) was investigated by means of autoradiography of incorporation of [3H]arginine, [3H]leucine, [3H]lysine, and [3H]tryptophan. Silver grain counts showed that during pollen maturation, peaks of incorporation of [3H]arginine and [3H]lysine occurred before the onset of vacuolation in the uninucleate pollen grains and as starch accumulation was initiated in the bicellular pollen grains. In the latter, labeled amino acids were mostly incorporated into the vegetative cell and very little appeared in the generative cell. [3H]leucine and [3H]tryptophan were not incorporated into uninucleate pollen grains at any stage of their development, although they were localized in the vegetative cell of bicellular pollen grains. In germinating pollen grains the nucleus of the vegetative cell, the generative cell, and sperms did not incorporate the isotopes. While the majority of pollen grains incorporated [3H]arginine, [3H]leucine, [3H]lysine, and [3H]tryptophan immediately after culture of anthers, during further periods of culture, protein synthetic activity persisted only in a small number of uninucleate, nonvacuolate, and densely staining "embryogenically determined" pollen grains confined to the periphery of the anther locule. Subsequent division of these pollen grains was accompanied by incorporation of [3H]arginine, [3H]leucine, and [3H]lysine into the vegetative cell or into both the vegetative cell and generative cell. It is suggested that, in contrast to the 3H-labeled amino acid incorporation pattern observed in pollen grains during their normal ontogeny, a significant change associated with embryogenic induction is the incorporation of [3H]leucine and [3H]tryptophan into embryogenically determined uninucleate pollen grains and of [3H]arginine, [3H]leucine, and [3H]lysine into the generative cell of bicellular pollen grains.


1997 ◽  
Vol 352 (1364) ◽  
pp. 1985-1993 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Heslop-Harrison ◽  
Y. Heslop-Harrison

The uniaperturate pollen of wheat is dispersed in a partially hydrated condition. Amyloplasts are concentrated in the apertural hemisphere where they surround the two sperms, while vigorously moving polysaccharide–containing wall precursor bodies (P–particles) together with the vegetative nucleus occupy the other. This disposition is the product of a post–meiotic developmental sequence apparently peculiar to the grasses. During vacuolation of the spore after release from the tetrad, the nucleus is displaced to the pole of the cell opposite the site of the germination aperture, already defined in the tetrad. Following pollen mitosis, the vegetative nucleus migrates along the wall of the vegetative cell towards the aperture, leaving the generative cell at the opposite pole isolated by a callose wall. As the vacuole is resorbed, the generative cell rounds up, loses its wall and follows the vegetative nucleus, passing along the wall of the vegetative cell towards the aperture where it eventually divides to produce the two sperms. Throughout this period of nucleus and cell manoeuvrings, minor inclusions of the vegetative cell cytoplasm, including mitochondria, lipid globuli and developing amyloplasts, move randomly. Coordinated vectorial movement begins after the main period of starch accumulation, when the amyloplasts migrate individually into the apertural hemisphere of the grain, a final redistribution betokening the attainment of germinability. In the present paper we correlate aspects of the evolution of the actin cytoskeleton with these events in the developing grain, and relate the observations to published evidence from another monocotyledonous species concerning the timing of the expression of actin genes during male gametophyte development, as revealed in the synthesis of actin mRNA.


2014 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Bednarska

RNA and protein synthesis were investigated in generative and vegetative cells during maturation of pollen grains. The rate of RNA and protein synthesis was analysed in reference to the successive interphase periods of the life cycle of pollen cells as well as against the background of the growth dynamics of the cell volume. The results of studies demonstrated that the pollen grain increases in size owing to the growth of the vegetative cell. The generative one does not grow. RNA synthesis and that of proteins in differentiating pollen cells has a different course. In the growing vegetative cell it lasts longer and is more intensive than in the generative cell which does not grow. RNA and protein synthesis in the vegetative cell take place in the period from the callose stage to the stage of lemon-shaped generative cell, that is in the period of phases G<sub>1</sub>, S and G<sub>2</sub>. This synthesis is positively correlated with the growth of the pollen grain. RNA and protein synthesis in the generative cell comprises the period from the callose-less lenticular stage to the stage of spherical generative cell, that is the phases S and early phase G<sub>2</sub>. These results suggest that in the vegetative cell RNA and protein synthesis is utilised above all to increase of its cell, instead in non growing generative cell protein synthese is probably limited mostly to a histones and enzymatic proteins serving for the DNA replication process.


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