THE CYTOLOGY OF POLLEN ABORTION IN C-CYTOPLASMIC MALE-STERILE CORN ANTHERS

Anther development of the C-cytoplasmic male-sterile (cms C) and the normal cytoplasm version (N) in the W182BN corn inbred was studied by light and electron microscopy. Deviation from normal pollen development was first observed in the tapetal cells at the tetrad stage of development. Two types of tapetal abnormalities were observed in plants with C cytoplasm. The first behaved like the N anther until the tetrad stage, when numerous small vacuoles appeared in the tapetal cells. Inner and radial tapetal cell walls broke down normally, but irregular Ubisch body deposition was observed, and exine development was inhibited and delayed. The tapetum and microspores disintegrated at the intermediate microspore stage. The second type of tapetum was highly vacuolated at the early tetrad stage, with dense inner and radial cell walls that remained intact and enlarged when the tetrads aborted. No organellar abnormalities, such as the mitochondrial changes observed in cms T, were observed in C anthers.