Calcium distribution in fertile and sterile anthers of a photoperiod-sensitive genic male-sterile rice

Potassium antimonate was used to locate Ca²⁺ in fertile and sterile anthers of a photoperiod-sensitive genic male-sterile rice (Oryza sativa L. japonica). During the development of fertile anthers, abundant calcium precipitates accumulated in the anther walls and on the surface of pollen grains and Ubish bodies at the late developmental stage of the microspore, but not in the cytoplasm of pollen grains. Following the accumulation of starch grains in pollen, calcium precipitates on pollen walls diminished and increased in parenchymatous cells of the connective tissue. In sterile anthers, calcium precipitates were abundant in the middle layer and endothecium, but not in the tapetum, as was found in fertile anthers. A special cell wall was observed between the tapetum and middle layer of sterile anthers that appeared to relate to distinctive calcium accumulation patterns and poor pollen wall formation in the loculi. The formation of different patterns of antimonate-induced calcium precipitates in the anthers of photoperiod-sensitive genic male-sterile rice indicates that anomalies in the distribution of calcium accumulation correlate with the failure of pollen development and pollen abortion. Received: 30 May 1997 / Accepted: 5 July 1997