3H-thymidyne incorporation into the microspores and pollen grains nuclei in excised Tradescantia stamens

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. ³H-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 ³H-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. ³H-thymidine is not incorporated into the vegetative nucleus in stamens developing <i>in vitro</i>.

Radioautographic visualization of incorporation of lipid precursors into anthers of Muscari comosum (L.) Mili.

Incorporation of the following lipid precursors: DL-mevalonic acid-2 ³H, ³H palmitic acid and acetic acid-³H sodium salt, into the anther cells of <i>Muscari comosum</i> (L.) Mili. has been investigated. These lipid precursors have been demonstrated to incorporate into pollen mother cells, pollen grains and the tapetum at the consecutive developmental stages. Ali used isotopes are incorporated into the cytoplasm of these cells and in the case of pollen grain the radioactivity of pollen grain wall (mainly composed of sporopellenin) is noticed. The highest radioactivity of pollen grain wall is observed after acetic acid, the lower one after palmitic acid, whereas the lowest uptake of lipid precursor occurs after mevalonic acid. In comparison with tetrad stage the distinct inrease of the cytoplasmic radioactivity of tapetum, which appears to1 accompany the labelling of pollen grain wall, seems to indicate the participation of tapetum in the formation of exine. A possible role of Ubisch bodies in the formation of pollen grain wall is discussed.

The ultrastructure of pollen grain surface in allotetraploid petunia (Petunia hybrida hort. superbissima) as revealed by scanning electron microscopy

The ultrastructure of pollen grain surface in allotetraploid petunias was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. The pollen grain wall is developed into characteristic pattern of convulations.

Sporopollenin Nanostructure of Ilex paraguariensis A.St.Hil Pollen Grains

Pollens appear like a fine to coarse powder that is liberated by the microsporangia of Gimnosperms and Angiosperms. The pollen grain wall, the sporoderm, envelopes the microgametophytes (male gametophytes), which produce the male gametes of seed plants. Pollen grains are interesting from the material science point of view since the native polymer, the sporopollenin, found in the sporoderm outer layer (exine), is one of the toughest known materials which is degraded by oxidation but is resistant to reduction. This property permits the sporopollenin persistence as an unaltered polymer in sediments of great age, e.g the Ordovician period, 400 million years ago. Sporopollenin is a mixture of fatty acids, phenyl-derivatives as p-coumaric acid, and carotenes [1]. Its nanostructure is not yet completed revealed. Therefore, more studies must be performed. A number of models have been proposed for the sporopollenin nanostructure of spores and pollen grains [2]. Rowley et al. [3-4] interpret exine structure as being formed by helical subunits, based on transmission and scanning electron microscope (TEM and SEM) studies. The atomic force microscopy (AFM) is the ideal method to study the sporopollenin nanostructure [5] since the arrangement of components is not visualized easily through other microscope techniques (e.g. TEM and SEM). In the present work, we used AFM to study the sporopollenin nanostructure of the Ilex paraguariensis A.St.Hil. exine, an Angiosperm (Aquifoliaceae).

Coenocytism, ameiosis, and chromosome diminution in intergeneric hybrids in the perennial Triticeae

Three different pathways of ameiotic microsporogenesis were observed in some intergeneric hybrids of the perennial Triticeae grasses. In one of the hybrids between Pseudoroegneria spicata ssp. inermis and Psathyrostachys juncea, pollen mother cells remained as premeiotic interphase cells when the pollen grain wall started to form. The microspores in such an ameiotic plant are presumably unreduced. Coenocyte formation coupled with ameiosis occurred in two hybrid plants of Psathyrostachys huashanica × Secale montanum. Less than 10% of the pollen mother cells had one nucleus. An average of 4.44 nuclei, ranging from 1 to 25 per pollen mother cell, was observed. The nuclei in coenocytes remained unfused when the pollen grain wall was formed. Nucleus splitting followed by cytoplasmic budding or cleavage, possibly a process of chromosome diminution or elimination, replaced meiotic divisions in most of the pollen mother cells in one plant of Leymus angustus × Hordeum bulbosum and two plants of Thinopyrum elongatum × Psathyrostachys juncea. It is evident that these meiotic abnormalities are under genetic control. Probable locations for these genes controlling these phenomena are suggested.Key words: coenocyte, ameiosis, chromosome diminution, chromosome elimination, microsporogenesis, unreduced gamete, polyploidy, intergeneric hybrid.