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A light and electron microscopic study of microsporogenesis in Azolla microphylla

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2011

Y. R. Herd ,
E. G. Cutter  and
I. Watanabe
Y. R. Herd
Affiliation:
Department of Botany, University of Manchester, Manchester M139PL, U.K. and International Rice Research Institute, Manila, Philippines
E. G. Cutter
Affiliation:
Department of Botany, University of Manchester, Manchester M139PL, U.K. and International Rice Research Institute, Manila, Philippines
I. Watanabe
Affiliation:
Department of Botany, University of Manchester, Manchester M139PL, U.K. and International Rice Research Institute, Manila, Philippines
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Synopsis

Microsporogenesis in cultured material of Azolla microphylla was studied with the light and transmission electron microscopes. The first formed sporangium, a megasporangium, aborts and several microsporangia develop below. Initially, a single sporogenous cell is present, surrounded by a single layered tapetum and the microsporangial wall. Subsequently, several sporogenous cells are connected by plasmodesmata. The microspore mother cells are less densely cytoplasmic than the tapetal cells. Callose-like material is deposited around the microspore mother cells, but disappears before meiosis. The tetrads of microspores contain well defined organelles but less dense cytoplasm than the surrounding periplasmodium. Electron dense material deposited on the plasma membrane of the microspores eventually forms the endospore. The unornamented exospore develops by continued deposition of electron dense material. Degeneration of the periplasmodium gives rise to membranous material which appears to form a template for the massulae.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences , Volume 86: The Biology of Pteridophytes , 1985 , pp. 53 - 58
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1985

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