Ultrastructural Aspects of Sporogenesis in a Fern, Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn

The meiotic process of sporogenesis in Pteridium is accompaniedby a regular cycle of ultrastructural events. These includethe dedifferentiation and redifferentiation of organelles, andthe elimination and restoration of ribosomes. Although similarin nature to corresponding stages in other land plants, sporogenesisin Pteridium provides several unique features. During prophase the plastids pass through a stage during whichno envelope can be resolved at the periphery of the stroma.They appear to survive this period and there is no evidencethat plastid lineage is broken from primary archesporium tospore. The plastid cycle is accompanied by the presence of theiron-protein complex phytoferritin. The repopulation of the spore cytoplasm with ribosomes, followingthe prophase elimination, is achieved through the agency ofnucleoloid-like bodies. These bodies, however, are not synthesizedwithin the nucleus, but form within membrane-bound regions ofthe early prophase cytoplasm. Prophase is also characterized by the development of nuclearvacuoles, expansions of the perinuclear space, which progressivelyramify through the karyoplasm prior to the dissolution of thenuclear envelope at metaphase I. The significance of these events, their similarities with, anddifferences from, comparable stages of meiosis in other plantsare discussed. Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn, bracken, meiosis, sporogenesis