Microgametogenesis in Plumbago zeylanica (Plumbaginaceae). 1. Descriptive cytology and three-dimensional organization

The generative cell is initiated as a small, lenticular, unpolarized cell with a cell wall traceable to two origins: the external segment originates as intine, while an inner callose positive cell wall forms de novo. As the lenticular generative cell begins its migration into the pollen cytoplasm, the generative cell becomes polarized both externally and internally, displaying a characteristic shape and patterns of organelle distribution oriented with respect to the vegetative nucleus and independent of pollen aperture location. Separation of the generative cell from the pollen wall begins at the end opposite the vegetative nucleus and results in an elongating protuberance at the opposite end of the generative cell; this becomes associated with a preformed groove located on the surface of the vegetative nucleus. The generative cell subsequently separates from the intine near the vegetative nucleus and moves progressively toward the opposite end of the cell; during this separation, the edge of the wall facing the intine becomes callose-positive and remains so until separating from the intine. The generative cell becomes a free cell within the pollen, which is in physical association with the vegetative nucleus. Generative cell organization and organelle content become increasingly polarized during maturation, with microtubules evident both in the elongating protuberance of the generative cell and in association with organelles. The generative nucleus migrates away from the vegetative nucleus and toward the plastid-rich end of the generative cell, whereas mitochondria are more generally distributed within the cell. Generative cell polarization is made permanent during mitotic division and cytokinesis, i.e., two sperm cells differing in morphology are formed: the larger cell associated with the vegetative nucleus (S_vn) contains a majority of the mitochondria, and the smaller, unassociated sperm cell (S_ua) receives the plastids.     

Brassica napus pollen development during generative cell and sperm cell formation

Summary Brassica napus pollen development during the formation of the generative cell and sperm cells is analysed with light and electron microscopy. The generative cell is formed as a small lenticular cell attached to the intine, as a result of the unequal first mitosis. After detaching itself from the intine, the generative cell becomes spherical, and its wall morphology changes. Simultaneously, the vegetative nucleus enlarges, becomes euchromatic and forms a large nucleolus. In addition, the cytoplasm of the vegetative cell develops a complex ultrastructure that is characterized by an extensive RER organized in stacks, numerous dictyosomes and Golgi vesicles and a large quantity of lipid bodies. Microbodies, which are present at the mature stage, are not yet formed. The generative cell undergoes an equal division which results in two spindle-shaped sperm cells. This cell division occurs through the concerted action of cell constriction and cell plate formation. The two sperm cells remain enveloped within one continuous vegetative plasma membrane. One sperm cell becomes anchored onto the vegetative nucleus by a long extension enclosed within a deep invagination of the vegetative nucleus. Plastid inheritance appears to be strictly maternal since the sperm cells do not contain plastids; plastids are excluded from the generative cell even in the first mitosis.     

A CYTOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF MICROSPORES OF TRITICUM AESTIVUM (POACEAE) DURING NORMAL ONTOGENY AND INDUCED EMBRYOGENIC DEVELOPMENT

Uninucleate microspores of Triticum aestivum cv. Pavon can be induced in vitro to alter their development to produce embryoids rather than pollen. Microspores expressed their embryogenic capacity through one of two division pathways. In the more common route, the first sporophytic division was asymmetric and produced what appeared to be a typical bicellular pollen grain. Here the generative cell detached from the intine, migrated to a central position in the pollen grain, and underwent a second haploid mitosis as the vegetative cell divided to give rise to the embryoid. In the second pathway, the first division was symmetric and both nuclei divided repeatedly to form the embryoid. This comparative analysis of normal pollen ontogeny and induced embryogenesis provided no evidence for the existence of predetermined embryogenic microspores in vitro or in vivo. Instead, microspores are induced at the time of culture, and embryogenesis involves continued metabolic activity associated with the gradual cessation of the gametophytic pathway and a redifferentiation into the sporophytic pathway. In conjunction with a previous study, it appears that embryogenic induction of wheat microspores involves switching off gametophytic genes and derepressing sporophytic genes.     

Identification of potentially embryogenic microspores in Brassica napus

Studies were undertaken with Brassica napus L. cv. Topas to identify buds containing microspores predisposed to embryogenesis in vitro and to investigate bud and microspore development in relation to this process. No significant correlation was found between the final embryo number and bud components. There appears to be a developmental window of less than 8 h duration during which microspores are very likely to form embryos: over 70% of the microspores can undergo division and up to 70% of these can form embryos. Embryos were mainly obtained from late uninuucleate to early binucleate microspores: the former contained mainly a G2 or M phase nucleus located at the microspore periphery and the latter a generative nucleus (associated with the intine) and a vegetative nucleus. Observations indicated that only the vegetative nucleus contributed to embryo formation. The first embryogenic division occurred between 8 and 16 h for uninucleate- and between 8 and 48 h for binucleate-derived embryos.     

Unequal cell division and chromatin diffrentiation in pollen grain cells

The dynamics of the microtubule (MT) were studied by α-tubulin immunofluorescence methods during the polleng rain ontogeny inTradescantia paludosa. Before the microspore division, interphase nuclei of themicrospore cells were twice displaced from the center to one side (NM-1) and from the side to the center near the inner wall (NM-2). During NM-1, a few MTs appeared around the nucleus, but the movement was not interrupted by colchicine treatment. In NM-2, however, which was essential to the unequal division of microspores, many MTs and MT bundles became organized and shifted in a manner corresponding to the nuclear movement. This movement was inhibited by the colchicine treatment. It was concluded that NM-2 was dependent on the MT cytoskeleton, but NM-1 was independent. Througthout the microspore division, mitotic spindles were organized asymmetrically. From prophase to prometaphase, the spindle began to construct itself in the vegetative pole preceding the generative pole. The half-spindles were asymmetric at the metaphase and the phragmoplast developed curving toward the generative pole at the telophase. No pre-prophase band of MTs was observed throughout the cell cycle. The relationship between the characteristic MT dynamics and the nuclear movement, or unequal cell division, was revealed and is discussed here.     

Mitosis and Amitosis of Generative Cell Nuclei in Artificially Germinated Pollen Tubes in Zephyranthes candida(Lindl.)Herb.

This paper deals with the comportmem of the vegetative nucleus and its spatial association with the generative cell and sperm cells in the artificially germinated pollen tubes of Zephyranthes candida (Lindl.) Herb. before and after generative cell mitosis with the use of DNA-specific fluochrome 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI). The induction of amitosis and abnormal mitosis of generative cell nuclei by cold-pretreatment of the pollen prior to germination was studied in particular. In normal case, the generative cell, after appressing to the vegetative nucleus for certain time, underwent mitosis to form two sperms, while the vegetative nucleus became markedly elongated, diffused, and exhibited blurring of its fluorescence. After division, a pair of sperms remained shortly in close connexion with the vegetative nucleus. Then the vegetative nucleus returned to its original state. In the pollen tubes germinated from cold-pretreated pollen, amitosis of some generative cell nuclei were frequently observed. Amitosis took place via either equal or unequal division with a mode of constriction. During amitosis, the dynamic change of vegetative nucleus and its intimate association with generative cell afore described did not occur. Sperm nuclei produced from amitosis could farther undergo amitisis resulting in micronnclei. Factors affecting the amitosic rate of generative cells, such as pollen developmental stage, temperature and duration of cold-pretreatment, were studied. Besides amitosis, cold-pretreatment also induced some abnormal mitotic behavior leading to the formation of micronuclei. Based on our observations and previously reported facts in other plant materials, it is inferred that the vegetative nucleus plays an important role in normal mitosis of generative cell and development of sperms.     

The mitotic apparatus during unequal microspore division observed by a confocal laser scanning microscope

Summary The structure of the mitotic apparatus during the microspore division ofTradescantia paludosa, which has a distinctively unequal division of large vegetative and small generative cells, was studied using -tubulin immunofluorescence methods and confocal laser scanning microscopy. Mitotic apparatuses began to develop asynchronously during early prophase at the vegetative pole (VP) and during prometaphase at the generative pole (GP). Both, however, reached completion together at the same time during metaphase. At the VP from prophase to prometaphase, microtubules (MTs) did not converge on the pole, and there was a circular area containing only a few MTs. The prophase spindles on the VP side were in the form of domes or cones that lacked the top. In the metaphase, however, the MTs concentrated at the pole to form a representative cone-shaped half-spindle. At the GP from prometaphase to metaphase, the MTs did not concentrate, and a circular area existed that lacked MTs. The half-spindles formed truncated cones. When the phragmoplast developed and curved around the generative nucleus during the telophase. it first grew toward the long axis of the ellipsoidal-shaped microspore; and after it arrived at the inner membrane of the microspore, it again curved past the generative nucleus toward the short axis. In conclusion, it was found that the mitotic apparatus ofT. paludosa microspores with its asynchronous growth and asymmetrical spindle structure and with its three dimensional growth of phragmoplasts had a peculiar developmental manner related to unequal division.     

DNA Synthesis in Microspores in Anther Culture of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Anthers with mid-unlnucleate microspores were cultured on W5 medium supplemented with 0.5 mg/l kinetin, 2 mg/l 2,4-D and 9% or 3% sucrose. At a series of interval (0, 1, 1.5, 2, 14 days) after cultured, the anthers were labelled with 3H-thymidine (4 MCi/mi) for 24 h, fixed, and then performed autoradiography according to conventional method. Results show that after cultured for 24 h, 3H-thymidine was incorporated into some late-uninucleate microspores (see Plate I, 3), and after for 2.5 days, vegetative nuclei in pollen grains were la- belled (see Plate I, 4). Usually, vegetative nuclei were labelled frequently and generative ones were labelled rarely. Sometimes generative cell which could synthesis DNA might develop suspensor-like structure individually (see Plate I, 13). During early stage of development of a multicellular pollen grain, the DNA synthesis in the cells were synchronized. With pollen development, the synchronism of DNA synthesis was destroyed. When anthers cultured on medium with 3% sucrose, DNA in microspores could be synthesized normally, and the number of labelled microspores was more than that of anthers cultured on medium with 9% sucrose. However, on medium with 3% sucrose, the nuclei in microspores stopped dividing after one or two divisions and the cell wall of them could not be formed and multicellular pollen was not observed. It seems that the absence of multicellular pollen on medium with 3% sucrose was primarily due to the block of cell division and cell wall formation, not due to the interruption of DNA synthesis.     

Lithium treatment of Nicotiana tabacum microspores blocks polar nuclear migration,disrupts the partitioning of membrane-associated Ca2+, and induces symmetrical mitosis

We have found that the normal developmental pathway of Nicotiana tabacum microspores is blocked or switched when microspores are exposed to lithium, and these effects are reversible with Ca²⁺ and myo-inositol. Normal development was defined by the following characteristics: changes in microspore shape from spherical to oval and then ellipsoid; two nuclear displacements, first from a central location to the cell periphery, and then from the periphery to the generative pole; a localization of membrane-associated Ca²⁺ at the generative pole preceding nuclear division; and, finally, an asymmetrical mitosis that results in a two-celled pollen grain with well-differentiated generative and vegetative nuclei. Lithium treatment blocked the localization of membrane-associated Ca²⁺ at the generative pole, and instead it was evenly distributed at both poles. Lithium treatment also blocked the asymmetrical positioning of the microspore nucleus at the generative pole and resulted in an approximately four-fold increase in the frequency of symmetrical mitosis. When Ca²⁺ and myo-inositol were added along with lithium, the effects were substantially decreased, and there was only a small increase in the frequency of symmetrical mitosis compared with controls. The timing of treatment was important; microspores isolated before the first nuclear displacement had a low frequency of further development, while microspores isolated immediately preceding the onset of mitosis were much less sensitive to lithium, and the result was only a small increase in the frequency of symmetrical mitosis. In microspores isolated after the first nuclear displacement, a 1-day exposure to lithium was sufficient to switch the developmental pathway from an asymmetrical to a symmetrical mitosis while still allowing limited further development. However, we have not optimized culturing conditions for embryogenesis and the furthest development observed after a 1-week culture was to four- or five-celled proembryo-like structures.     

Analysis of Nondisjunction Induced by the R-X1 Deficiency during Microsporogenesis in Zea Mays L

The r-X1 deficiency in maize induces nondisjunction at the second mitotic division during embryo sac formation. However, it was not known if this deficiency also induces nondisjunction during the microspore divisions. Microsporogenesis in plants lacking or containing this deficiency was compared using two approaches. First, chromosome numbers were determined in generative nuclei. Many (8.3%) of the generative nuclei in r-X1-containing plants were aneuploid; however, those from control plants were all haploid. Thus, this deficiency induces nondisjunction during the first microspore division. Second, nucleoli were analyzed in microspores. The only nucleolar organizing region in maize is on chromosome 6. If chromosome 6 underwent nondisjunction during the first microspore division, one nucleus in binucleate microspores would contain no nucleolus and the other would contain two nucleoli (or one nucleolus if the nucleoli fused). Only one (0.03%) microspore of this type was observed in control plants while 1.12% were found in r-X1-containing plants. Thus, the r-X1 deficiency induces nondisjunction of chromosome 6 during the first microspore division. However, both of the sperm nuclei in trinucleate microspores contained one nucleolus in r-X1-containing and control plants; thus, this deficiency does not induce nondisjunction of chromosome 6 (and presumably other chromosomes) during the second microspore division.     

Origin of Multicellular Pollen and Pollen Embryos in Cultured Anthers of Pepper (Capsicum Annuum)

Anthers of Capsicum annuum L. were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing 0.1 mg l⁻¹ NAA and 0.1 mg l⁻¹ kinetin. Inoculated anthers were subjected to 31 °C and development of microspores in anthers of varying stages was observed cytologically using 4′-6-diamidino-2-phenylindol-2HCl (DAPI). Pepper was characterized by a strong asynchrony of pollen development within a single anther. Percentage of pollen at different stages changed with the culture period, and the proportion of dead pollen increased drastically from day 2 after culture. Microspores that were cultured at the late-uninucleate stage followed one of two developmental pathways. In the more common route, the first sporophytic division was asymmetric and produced what appeared to be a typical bicellular pollen. Embryogenic pollen was formed by repeated divisions of the vegetative nucleus. In the second pathway, which occurred in fewer microspores, the first division was symmetric and both nuclei divided repeatedly to form embryogenic pollen. In early-bicellular pollen, sporophytic pollen was produced through division of the vegetative nucleus. In mid-bicellular pollen, the generative nucleus may undergo division to produce two or more sperm-like nuclei. However, division of the generative nucleus alone to form the embryo was never observed. The anther stage optimal for embryo production contained a large proportion (>75%) of early-binucleate pollen. Associations were found among the percentage of early-binucleate pollen, the frequency of embryogenic multinucleate pollen, and the yield of pollen embryos.     

Time-lapse tracking of barley androgenesis reveals position-determined cell death within pro-embryos

Following abiotic stress to induce barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) androgenesis, the development of 794 enlarged microspores in culture was monitored by time-lapse tracking. In total, 11% of the microspores tracked developed into embryo-like structures (type-I pathway), 36% formed multicellular structures (type-II pathway) and 53% of the microspores followed gametophytic divisions, accumulated starch and died in the first days of tracking (type-III pathway). Despite the microspore fate, enlarged microspores showed similar morphologies directly after stress treatment. Ultrastructural analysis, however, revealed two morphologically distinct cell types. Cells with a thin intine layer and an undifferentiated cytoplasm after stress treatment were associated with type-I and type-II pathways, whereas the presence of differentiated amyloplasts and a thick intine layer were associated with the type-III pathway. Tracking revealed that the first morphological change associated with embryogenic potential was a star-like morphology, which was a transitory stage between uninucleate vacuolated microspores after stress and the initiation of cell division. The difference between type-I and type-II pathways was observed during the time they displayed the star-like morphology. During the transition phase, embryo-like structures in the type-I pathway were always released out of the exine wall at the opposite side of the pollen germ pore, whereas in the type-II pathway multicellular structures were unable to break the exine and to release embryo-like structures. Moreover, by combining viability studies with cell tracking, we show that release of embryo-like structures was preceded by a decrease in viability of the cells positioned at the site of exine wall rupture. These cells were also positively stained by Sytox orange, a cell death indicator. Thereby, we demonstrate, for the first time, that a position-determined cell death process marks the transition from a multicellular structure into an embryo-like structure during barley androgenesis.     

In vitro development of plants from microspores of rice

Summary Rice (Oryza sativa L., 2n=24) anthers containing microspores in the early-uninucleate to first-mitosis stages were induced successfully to develop into plants in vitro through an intermediary step of callus formation. Callus initiation occurred with highest frequency in anthers containing mid-uninucleate microspores. The callus derived from different stages of microspore development differed in the potential to differentiate into plants. The plants regenerated from pollen callus were predominantly haploid or diploid; polyploid and aneuploid plants were relatively infrequent. The first division of the uninucleate microspores was asymmetrical, resulting in the formation of large vegetative and small generative nuclei. The vegetative nucleus divided repeatedly and assumed the major role in the formation of callus, whereas the generative nucleus degenerated rapidly. Simultaneous division of the two nuclei was observed in a few pollen grains. Nuclear fusion during the very initial stages of pollen development was postulated to account for the occurrence of the diploid and polyploid plants. This work was supported by the National Science Council, Republic of China.     

Pollen ultrastructure in anther cultures of Datura innoxia. III. Incomplete microspore division.

During the microspore division in Datura innoxia, the mitotic spindle is oriented in planes both perpendicular (PE) and oblique (OB) to the spore wall against which the nucleus is situated. However, irrespective of polarity, the usual type of hemispherical wall is laid down at cytokinesis and isolates the generative cell from the rest of the pollen grain (type A). In PE spores the vegetative nucleus initially occupies a central position in the pollen grain, whereas in OB spores the vegetative nucleus lies at the periphery of the grain close to the generative cell. In anther cultures initiated just before the microspore division is due to take place, no marked change can be observed in either orientation or symmetry of the mitotic spindle when the spores divide. In some, however, cytokinesis is disrupted and deposition of the hemispherical wall arrested. In the absence of a complete wall, differentiation of the generative cell cannot take place and binucleate pollen grains are formed having 2 vegetative-type nuclei (type B). The 2 nuclei in the B pollens are always situated against the pollen-grain wall, suggesting that the disruption phenomenon is related to the OB spores. The incomplete wall always makes contact with the intine on the intine-side of the spindle. Wall material may be represented merely as short stubs projecting out from the intine into the cytoplasm, in which event the 2 nuclei lie close to each other and are separated by only a narrow zone of cytoplasm. In other grains the wall is partially developed between the nuclei and terminates at varying distances from the tonoplast; in these, the nuclei are separated by a wider zone of cytoplasm. The significance of these binucleate grains in pollen embryogenesis is discussed.     

Microspore development inBrassica napus and the effect of high temperature on division in vivo and in vitro

Summary Brassica napus cv. Topas microspores isolated and cultured near the first pollen mitosis and subjected to a heat treatment develop into haploid embryos at a frequency of about 20%. In order to obtain a greater understanding of the induction process and embryogenesis, transmission electron microscopy was used to study the development of pollen from the mid-uninucleate to the bicellular microspore stage. The effect of 24 h of high temperature (32.5 °C) on microspore development was examined by heat treating microspore cultures or entire plants. Mid-uninucleate microspores contained small vacuoles. Late-uninucleate vacuolate microspores contained a large vacuole. The large vacuole of the vacuolate stage was fragmented into numerous small vacuoles in the late-uninucleate stage. The late-uninucleate stage contained an increased number of ribosomes, a pollen coat covering the exine and a laterally positioned nucleus. Prior to the first pollen mitosis the nucleus of the lateuninucleate microspore appeared to be appressed to the plasma membrane; numerous perinuclear microtubules were observed. Microspores developing into pollen divided asymmetrically to form a large vegetative cell with amyloplasts and a small generative cell without plastids. The cells were separated by a lens-shaped cell wall which later diminished. At the late-bicellular stage the generative cell was observed within the vegetative cell. Starch and lipid reserves were present in the vegetative cell and the rough endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi were abundant. The microspore isolation procedure removed the pollen coat, but did not redistribute or alter the morphology of the organelles. Microspores cultured at 25 °C for 24 h resembled late-bicellular microspores except more starch and a thicker intine were present. A more equal division of microspores occurred during the 24 h heat treatment (32.5 °C) of the entire plant or of cultures. A planar wall separated the cells of the bicellular microspores. Both daughter cells contained plastids and the nuclei were of similar size. Cultured embryogenie microspores contained electron-dense deposits at the plasma membrane/cell wall interface, vesicle-like structures in the cell walls and organelle-free regions in the cytoplasm. The results are related to embryogenesis and a possible mechanism of induction is discussed.Abbreviations B binucleate - LU late uninucleate - LUV late uninucleate vacuolate - M mitotic - MU mid-uninucleate - RER rough endoplasmic reticulum - TEM transmission electron micrograph     

The cytoskeleton and polarization during pollen development in Carex blanda (Cyperaceae)

Patterns of cytoskeletal organization during distinct polarizations that characterize pollen development in the sedge Carex blanda (Cyperaceae) were studied by correlated methods of immunohistochemistry and confocal and transmission electron microscopy. As is typical of the family Cyperaceae, Carex produces a unique pollen type known as a pseudomonad in which all four microspores of the tetrad are enclosed within the wall of a single pollen grain. Only one member of the tetrad is functional and the other three abort. The pseudomonads are precisely oriented in the locule with the functional microspore in the wide abaxial portion of the wedge-shaped cytoplasm adjacent to the tapetum, and the degenerative microspores are packed tightly in the pointed adaxial portion. A unique sequence of post-meiotic developmental events reflects both intracellular and intercellular polarity. Development includes: (1) random placement of tetrad nuclei in the coenocytic sporocyte after meiosis, (2) interrupted cytokinesis resulting in a tetrad of nuclei that migrates as a unit into the narrow adaxial tip, (3) completion of unequal cytokinesis and centering of the functional nucleus in the wide abaxial portion of the microsporocyte via a radial array of microtubules and microfilaments, (4) unequal mitosis resulting in a small generative cell at the proximal surface of the functional microspore (adjacent to the abortive microspores), and (5) recentering of the vegetative nucleus in the abaxial cytoplasm via a radial cytoskeletal array.     

Nuclear DNA synthesis during the induction of embryogenesis in cultured microspores and pollen of Brassica napus L.

The dynamics of nuclear DNA synthesis were analysed in isolated microspores and pollen of Brassica napus that were induced to form embryos. DNA synthesis was visualized by the immunocytochemical labelling of incorporated Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), applied continuously or as a pulse during the first 24 h of culture under embryogenic (32 °C) and non-embryogenic (18 °C) conditions. Total DNA content of the nuclei was determined by microspectrophotometry. At the moment of isolation, microspore nuclei and nuclei of generative cells were at the G1, S or G2 phase. Vegetative nuclei of pollen were always in G1 at the onset of culture. When microspores were cultured at 18 °C, they followed the normal gametophytic development; when cultured at 32 °C, they divided symmetrically and became embryogenic or continued gametophytic development. Because the two nuclei of the symmetrically divided microspores were either both labelled with BrdU or not labelled at all, we concluded that microspores are inducible to form embryos from the G1 until the G2 phase. When bicellular pollen were cultured at 18 °C, they exhibited labelling exclusively in generative nuclei. This is comparable to the gametophytic development that occurs in vivo. Early bicellular pollen cultured at 32 °C, however, also exhibited replication in vegetative nuclei. The majority of vegetative nuclei re-entered the cell cycle after 12 h of culture. Replication in the vegetative cells preceded division of the vegetative cell, a prerequisite for pollen-derived embryogenesis.     

Generative Cell Division and Sperm Cell Association in the Pollen Grain of Sambucus nigra

Generative cell division in tricellular pollen grains of Sambucusnigra L. (Caprifoliaceae) has been examined with light and electronmicroscopy. During division the generative cell is located inthe centre of the pollen grain, near to the nucleus of a surroundingvegetative cell. Conventional mitosis of the generative cellis followed by cytokinesis through centrifugal cell plate formation.Two sister sperm cells remain in spatial contact with each otherand are surrounded, as formerly their progenitor cell was, bythe vegetative cell. From the changes of shape of the generativecell during division and of the sperm cells it may be assumedthat the space between these cells and the vegetative one containsa labile, non-rigid, wall material. No plastids have been observedin the generative cell and its mitochondria appear to be unequallydistributed between the two future sperm cells during division. Sambucus nigra L., generative cell division, pollen, sperm cell association     

The organization of microtubules during generative-cell division inConvallaria majalis

Summary The organization of the microtubule cytoskeleton in the generative cell ofConvallaria majalis has been studied during migration of the cell through the pollen tube and its division into the two sperm cells. Analysis by conventional or confocal laser scanning microscopy after tubulin staining was used to investigate changes of the microtubule cytoskeleton during generative-cell migration and division in the pollen tube. Staining of DNA with 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole was used to correlate the rearrangement of microtubules with nuclear division during sperm cell formation. Before pollen germination the generative cell is spindle-shaped, with microtubules organized in bundles and distributed in the cell cortex to form a basketlike structure beneath the generative-cell plasma membrane. During generative-cell migration through the pollen tube, the organization of the microtubule bundles changes following nuclear division. A typical metaphase plate is not usually formed. The generative-cell division is characterized by the extension of microtubules concomitant with a significant cell elongation. After karyokinesis, microtubule bundles reorganize to form a phragmoplast between the two sperm nuclei. The microtubule organization during generative-cell division inConvallaria majalis shows some similarities but also differences to that in other members of the Liliaceae.Abbreviations CLSM confocal laser scanning microscopy - EM electron microscopy - GC generative cell - GN generative nucleus - MT microtubule - SC sperm cell - SN sperm nucleus - VN vegetative nucleus     

Genesis of microspore-derived triploid petunias

Summary A total of 61 microspore-derived plants of Petunia parodii were grown to maturity revealing a predominent population of triploids, 80.3%. Cytological investigations, together with the evidence from microfluorimetry, suggest that the origin of these triploids was due to the fusion of interphase nuclei in two different pathways. In the majority of embryogenic microspores, a vegetative nucleus of 1C DNA content fused with an endo-reduplicated 2C DNA generative nucleus at the binucleate stage and produced true triploid embryoids and plantlets (A pathway). Where this fusion failed, both the vegetative and the generative nuclei divided separately and in the multinucleate microspore two or more daughter nuclei fused to form a mixoploid embryoid. Such mixoploid embryoids produced a mixed population of plants with various ploidy levels as well as ploidy polymorphism within an individual. Since the triploids are morphologically superior with a faster growth rate than their diploids and related tetraploids, a predominent population of triploid plants was obtained from such mixoploid embryoids (B pathway). By low temperature treatment of the anther-donor buds, the embryogenic response of microspores was enhanced up to 5-fold.