The aim of the present work was the characterization of nuclear bodies in the microspore and developing pollen cells of Hyacinthus orientalis L.. The combination of Ag-NOR, immunofluorescence and immunogold techniques was used in this study. The obtained results showed the presence of highly agyrophylic extranucleolar bodies in microspore and developing pollen cells, which were finally identifi...

The roles of cell polarity and the first asymmetric cell division during early embryogenesis in apical-basal cell fate determination remain unclear. Previously, a novel Brassica napus microspore embryogenesis system was established, by which rape exine-dehisced microspores were induced by physical stress. Unlike traditional microspore culture, cell polarity and subsequent asymmetric division ap...

A male-sterile, female-sterile soybean mutant (w4-m sterile) was identified among progeny of germinal revertants of a gene-tagging study. Our objectives were to determine the genetics (inheritance, allelism, and linkage) and the cytology (microsporogenesis and microgametogenesis) of the w4-m sterile. The mutant was inherited as a single recessive nuclear gene and was nonallelic to known male-st...

Dynamin-related GTPases regulate a wide variety of dynamic membrane processes in eukaryotes. Here, we investigated the function of ADL1C, a member of the Arabidopsis 68 kDa dynamin-like protein family. Analysis of heterozygous adl1C-1 indicates that the mutation specifically affects post-meiotic male gametogenesis. Fifty percent of the mature pollen from heterozygous adl1C-1 androecia are shriv...

The technique of isolated microspore culture for the production of haploid plants is well standardized for many species of Brassica, some of which are important oilseed or vegetable crops. It offers an excellent experimental system for improvement of Brassica crops and study of cell differentiation during shift from gametophytic to sporophytic development. The haploids raised from microspores a...

A novel genetic male sterile germplasm was developed by successively crossing of (C. annuum x C. chinense) x C. pubescens and by chemical mutagenesis in pepper. The sterile anthers showed morphological abnormalities, but pistils developed normally with fine pollination capability. We investigated fertility segregation through sib-crossing of the same strains and test crossing by male sterile pl...

The trans-Golgi network (TGN) plays a central role in cellular secretion and has been implicated in sorting cargo destined for the plasma membrane. Previously, the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) echidna (ech) mutant was shown to exhibit a dwarf phenotype due to impaired cell expansion. However, ech also has a previously uncharacterized phenotype of reduced male fertility. This semisterility...

Pollen exine is essential for protection from the environment of the male gametes of seed-producing plants, but its assembly and composition remain poorly understood. We previously characterized Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) mutants with abnormal pollen exine structure and morphology that we named kaonashi (kns). Here we describe the identification of the causal gene of kns4 that was found...

Arabinogalactan proteins (AGPs) are extracellular proteoglycans involved in plant growth and development. The addition of beta-D-glucosyl Yariv reagent (betaGlcY), a synthetic phenylglycoside that specifically reacts with AGPs, to the culture medium notably disturbed microspore embryogenesis in a concentration-dependent manner. The initiation of microspore embryogenesis was clearly inhibited by...