Characteristics of Isolated Microsporocytes from Liliaceous Plants for Studies of the Meiotic Cell Cycle in Vitro

Experiments were aimed at obtaining a culture system for studyof the differentiation of meiotic cells, and techniques weresuccessfully established for the in vitro culture of premeioticmicrosporocytes isolated from various species of liliaceousplants. The problems concerning the culture system were whethermicrosporocytes could be isolated at each stage of the premeioticinterphase and whether they would survive and undergo cell divisionat high frequencies in culture media. In the species tested,the range of stages permitting isolation from anthers and thecytological features of the extruded cells were examined insome detail. Culture conditions are defined for the survivaland the induction of cell division in explanted cells, and somefactors influencing these frequencies are discussed. Explantedcells at premeiotic Gi and S phases underwent a mitotic division,whereas once cells entered the leptotene stage they completedmeiosis. Cells explanted at the G2 phase showed abnormal typesof meiotic division. The culture system developed makes possiblecytological, physiological and biochemical analyses of premeioticcells cultured under various conditions. (Received September 5, 1980; Accepted November 5, 1980)