Dynamics of cytoskeleton microtubules in higher plant meiosis. III. Early prometaphase stage

The early prometaphase and initial stages of meiotic spindle formation in higher plant PMCs were studied by means of a new approach worked out by the authors: a morphological dissection that consists in the analysis of various abnormalities of the process under study. Wide cereal hybrids F1 were used as a source of such abnormalities: phenotypes with C-, S-shaped and combined spindle, with spindles surrounded by microtubule (MT) ring and phenotypes with chaotic circular MT system in M1. Three stages of early prometaphase not described before (disintegration of perinuclear MT band, straightening of its bundles, and their translocation throughout the cytoplasm) were revealed.