Abstract: Temperature controls the developmental fate of isolated Brassica napus microspores in vitro. Culture at 32.5°C leads to sporophytic development and the formation of embryos. Here we show that culture at 17.5°C leads to gametophytic development, and the formation of pollen-like structures at high frequencies (up to 80% after 7 days in culture). Early stages of both developmental pathways are observed in culture at 25.0°C, and embryos are produced at low frequencies (0.7%) at that temperature. Culturing B. napus microspores at 32.5°C versus 17.5°C brings the switch from gametophytic to sporophytic development under simple experimental control and provides a convenient tool for investigating the cellular and molecular mechanisms controlling this developmental switch.

Abstract: SummaryTemperature controls the developmental fate of isolated Brassica napus microspores in vitro. Culture at 32.5°C leads to sporophytic development and the formation of embryos. Here we show that culture at 17.5°C leads to gametophytic development, and the formation of pollen-like structures at high frequencies (up to 80% after 7 days in culture). Early stages of both developmental pathways are observed in culture at 25.0°C, and embryos are produced at low frequencies (0.7%) at that temperature. Culturing B. napus microspores at 32.5°C versus 17.5°C brings the switch from gametophytic to sporophytic development under simple experimental control and provides a convenient tool for investigating the cellular and molecular mechanisms controlling this developmental switch.

Abstract: A simple procedure is described for the mechanical isolation of protoplasts of unfertilized and fertilized barley egg cells from dissected ovules. Viable protoplasts were isolated from ~75% of the dissected ovules. Unfertilized protoplasts did not divide, whereas almost all fertilized protoplasts developed into microcalli. These degenerated when grown in medium only. When cocultivated with barley microspores undergoing microspore embryogenesis, the protoplasts of the fertilized egg cells developed into embryo-like structures that gave rise to fully fertile plants. On average, 75% of cocultivated protoplasts of fertilized egg cells developed into embryo-like structures. Fully fertile plants were regenerated from ~50% of the embryo-like structures. The isolation-regeneration techniques may be largely genotype independent, because similar frequencies were obtained in two different barley varieties with very different performance in anther and microspore culture. Protoplasts of unfertilized and fertilized eggs of wheat were isolated by the same procedure, and a fully fertile wheat plant was regenerated by cocultivation with barley microspores.

Abstract: Starch was cytologically localized and biochemically assayed in different anther cell layers of Lilium cv. Enchantment during pollen development and its presence was correlated with anther growth. Two phases could be distinguished: the first, the growth phase, extends from the beginning of meiosis to the vacuolated microspore stage and corresponds to maximum increase in anther size and weight. During this period, microspores lack amyloplasts and starch is degraded in the outer staminal wall layers. The tapetum does not contain starch reserves but accumulates a PAS-positive substance in its vacuole. The second phase, the maturation phase, begins with the late vacuolated microspore stage and lasts until pollen maturation. Anther growth is slowed during this phase. A wave of amylogenesis/ amylolysis occurs first in the late vacuolated-microspores and young pollen grains and, next, in the staminal envelopes. In the pollen grain, the cytoplasm of the vegetative cell is filled with starch, but amyloplasts are not detected in the generative cell. When pollen grains ripen, amylaceous reserves are replaced with lipids. In the staminal envelopes, the second amylogenesis is particularly evident in the endothecium and the middle layers; the peak of starch is reached at the young bicellular pollen grain stage; starch disappears from the anther wall early during the maturation phase. The wave of amylogenesis/amylolysis occurring in the staminal envelopes during the maturation phase is peculiar to Lilium. It is interpreted as a sudden increase in carbohydrate level caused by lower anther needs when the growth is completed. Staminal envelopes may act as a physiological buffer and regulate soluble sugar level in the anther. Stages of anther growth correlate with starch content variations and this suggests that during the growth phase, products of starch hydrolysis in the staminal envelopes may be consumed partly by anther cell layers and partly by microspores.

Abstract: A critical stage in pollen development is the dissolution of the four products of meiosis, the tetrads, into free microspores. The tetrads are surrounded by a thick callose wall composed of beta-1,3-glucan. At the completion of meiosis, the tetrads are released into the anther locule after hydrolysis of the callose by a beta-1,3-glucanase. Using the polymerase chain reaction, we have amplified and subsequently cloned a cDNA corresponding to a beta-1,3-glucanase, tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv. Samsun) anther glucanase (Tag 1), which is expressed exclusively in anthers from meiosis to the free microspore stage of pollen development. The identity of the clone was determined by DNA and deduced protein sequence similarity to other known beta-1,3-glucanases. Several regions strictly conserved among four classes of glucanases are also conserved in the Tag 1 protein. Tag 1 represents a novel class of beta-1,3-glucanase based on phylogenetic analysis and RNA expression pattern. Tag 1 RNA was detected in situ only in the tapetum, with maximal expression just prior to tetrad dissolution. Due to its expression pattern and sequence similarity to other beta-1,3-glucanases, we believe Tag 1 may be involved in tetrad dissolution.

Abstract: From a pollen tube cDNA library ofPetunia inflata, we isolated cDNA clones encoding a protein, PPE1, which exhibits sequence similarity with plant, bacterial, and fungal pectin esterases. Genomic clones containing thePPE1 gene were isolated using cDNA for PPE1 as a probe, and comparison of the cDNA and genomic sequences revealed the presence of a single intron in thePPE1 gene. During pollen development,PPE1 mRNA was first detected in anthers containing uninucleate microspores; it reached the highest level in mature pollen and persisted at a high level inin vitro germinated pollen tubes. The observed expression pattern of thePPE1 gene suggests that its product may play a role in pollen germination and/or tube growth.

Abstract: We have taken a mutational approach to identify genes important for male fertility in Arabidopsis thaliana and have isolated a number of nuclear male/ sterile mutants in which vegetative growth and female fertility are not altered. Here we describe detailed developmental analyses of four mutants, each of which defines a complementation group and has a distinct developmental end point. All four mutants represent premeiotic developmental lesions. In ms3, tapetum and middle layer hypertrophy result in the degeneration of microsporocytes. In ms4, microspore dyads persist for most of anther development as a result of impaired meiotic division. In ms5, degeneration occurs in all anther cells at an early stage of development. In ms15, both the tapetum and microsporocytes degenerate early in anther development. Each of these mutants had shorter filaments and a greater number of inflorescences than congenic male-fertile plants. The differences in the developmental phenotypes of these mutants, together with the non-allelic nature of the mutations indicate that four different genes important for pollen development, have been identified.

Abstract: Three methods of chromosome doubling to produce doubled haploid plants from microspore cultures of Brassica napus were compared: colchicine treatment of microspore-derived plants, microspore-derived embryos, and isolated microspores. In the whole plant treatment, 53% of the treated plants set seed, but the treatment delayed plant growth and reduced seed set. When microspore-derived embryos were treated with colchicine, the doubling frequency was 32% (compared to 15% for spontaneous doubling). Direct colchicine treatment of isolated microspores resulted in a doubling efficiency of 70% of the whole plants. This treatment also stimulated embryogenesis in microspore culture, leading to increased plant regeneration

Abstract: Summary The activation and developmental regulation of the promoter of the tomato late pollen gene lat52 was analysed in Nicotiana tabacum and Arabidopsis thaliana to investigate the conservation of regulatory mechanisms in species with bicellular and tricellular pollen. Promoter activity in transgenic plants containing the lat52 promoter fused to the β-glucuronidase (gus) gene was studied in detail throughout pollen development by fluorimetric and histochemical analysis of GUS activity, and by RNA analysis. These studies showed that in transgenic A. thaliana the lat52 promoter was activated in late uninucleate microspores immediately prior to microspore mitosis, whereas in transgenic N. tabacum lat52 promoter activity was first detectable immediately following microspore mitosis in young bicellular pollen grains. Thus, the precise activation of the lat52 promoter was not strictly dependent on passage through microspore mitosis in A. thaliana. Despite this temporal difference, the pattern of lat52 promoter activity during vegetative cell maturation showed a very similar cumulative pattern of activity in both species, which was correlated with a similar accumulation of gus transcript and spore protein content. Furthermore, the expression of a lat52 promoter directed nuclear-targeted β-glucuronidase fusion protein allowed lat52 promoter activity to be localized specifically to the vegetative cell during pollen development in A. thaliana.

Abstract: Culture temperature determines the developmental fate of isolated microspores from Brassica napus L. At 18°C, tricellular pollen develops, whereas culture at 32°C for 8 h leads to the quantitative and synchronous induction of embryogenesis, and ultimately to the formation of embryos. We investigated the changes in protein synthesis that are associated with this 8-h inductive period by using in-situ [35S]methionine labeling, followed by two-dimensional (2-D) gel electrophoretic analysis of the radiolabeled proteins. Qualitative and quantitative computer analyses of 2-D [35S]methionine protein patterns showed six polypeptides specifically labeled under embryogenic culture conditions. Eighteen polypeptides incorporated [35S]methionine at a statistically significant higher rate under embryogenic culture conditions (32°C) than in the controls (18°C), whereas one protein was preferentially labeled under non-embryogenic culture conditions (18°C). These results indicate that only a limited number of proteins detectable in the 2-D gels of microspore extracts are associated with the early induction of embryogenesis. The reproducible identification of the differentially radiolabeled proteins in the 2-D gels allow the sequencing of representative peptides and the isolation of the corresponding cDNAs. This may lead to the identification and characterization of proteins associated with the very first stages of plant embryogenesis.

Abstract: Microspore derived (MS-)embryogenesis and zygotic embryogenesis of Brassica napus L. cv. Topas were investigated by light and scanning electron microscopy to reveal the expression of polarity during the transition phase from globular to heart and torpedo shape. During the first 5 days of MS-embryo formation, the cell wall of the former microspores remained intact and a globular mass of cells developed within. Pollen walls ruptured after 5 days of culture; embryos proceeded through heart-shape and torpedo-shape stages within 15 days in a way comparable to, but faster than observed during zygotic embryogenesis. Expression of polarity in globular and elongating MS-embryos was analyzed by detection of the distribution of activated calmodulin as well as of free cytosolic calcium by using confocal scanning laser microscopy, and by the detection of starch. Calmodulin was evenly distributed in globular embryos and only exhibited clear polar distribution in elongated embryos. Free cytosolic Ca2+ accumulated in the protoderm of globular embryos and in the central cylinder of torpedo shaped embryos, but never showed polar distribution. Accumulation of starch granules at the root poles of both sexual as well as MS-embryos, however, indicated polar distribution before the transition from globular to heart shape stage. Since the local rupture of the pollen wall of 6-day-old MS-embryos was never preceded by the decrease of starch at that site, it is likely that the rupture of the pollen wall plays an important role in the local activation of cell metabolism and thus in the determination of the polarity axis in MS-embryos.

Abstract: A new cytoplasmic male-sterility system was developed in an oilseed Brassica, viz. B. juncea var. 'Pusa Bold' with the cytoplasmic background of a wild species, Diplotaxis siifolia, obtained through wide hybridization. The synthetic alloploid (D. siifolia×B. juncea: 2n=56, D 3 D 3 AABB) was repeatedly backcrossed to B. juncea to achieve cytoplasmic substitution. The CMS plants resembled the cultivar in growth and morphology. The flowers had narrow sepals and petals and short, shrivelled anthers which failed to dehisce. The meiotic process appeared to be normal. The microspores degenerated at an early stage after tetrad formation. Female fertility in the CMS plants was as good as in the cultivar. Female transmission of sterility confirmed it to be cytoplasmically encoded.

Abstract: Isolated microspores of various populations of three varieties of the Chinese cabbage pakchoi (Brassica rapa ssp. chinensis) were cultivated in vitro on NLN82 medium (Lichter 1982) and embryos and plantlets obtained with nine cultivars. The best embryo yield per bud was 57.4. A 33°C one day heat treatment was generally necessary to induce embryogenesis. Analysis of ploidy level through flow cytometry for two cultivars indicated that haploids were present.

Abstract: Isolated microspores of Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Igri were incubated in the presence of different sugars. In the presence of maltose, the optimum concentration for the development of embryoids or calluses from the microspores was 175 mM. At this concentration 0.2% of the cells developed into embryoids or calluses. Microspores cultured without a carbohydrate source died after three days' incubation. In contrast microspores incubated in the presence of sucrose, glucose or fructose died within three days. Moreover, microspores also died when incubated in the presence of a combination of 175 mM maltose with varying concentrations of either sucrose, glucose or fructose. It is concluded that incubation of microspores in the presence of sucrose, glucose or fructose results in the death of the cells via some unknown mechanism. In contrast to this, maltose can sustain development of embryoids and calluses from cultured microspores.

Abstract: Pollen of angiosperms lacks the ability to respond to heat stress by synthesizing heat shock proteins (hsps). In tomato developing microspores were found to have 70 kDa heat shock proteins (hsp70s) present throughout development, even in the absence of heat stress. Heat shock protein family members expressed in the absence of heat stress are called cognate (hsc70) genes. Antisence RNA and antibody probes were used for in situ hybridizations which detected hsc70 expression in developing pollen of immature buds. Hsc70 mRNA transcripts and proteins were detected in nonstressed sporogenous tissues, microspores and in pre-tapetal layers during early pollen development. While immunoblot analysis detected hsc70 proteins stored in mature pollen, heat stress could not induce the synthesis of new hsp70 protein as measured by 35S-methionine labeling followed by immunoprecipitation.

Abstract: Gametes formed without meiosis in alfalfa would be useful in basic and applied research. Therefore, the cytological analysis of macrosporogenesis of a diploid plant of Medicago sativa subsp. falcata (L.) Arcangeli (named PG-F9), previously selected as a good 2n egg producer, was conducted. A stain-clearing technique was applied which also allowed the analysis of microsporogenesis to be performed. Two mechanisms of 2n egg formation were determined: absence of the second meiotic division (mechanism of the SDR type) and apomeiosis. In particular, it is noteworthy that 2n eggs produced via apomeiosis should retain the same parental genotype, because apomeiotic cells give rise directly to the female gametophyte without undergoing meiosis. The presence of binucleate female gametophytes in the ovules at an early stage of development confirmed the presence of apomeiosis in PG-F9. These abnormalities concerned only macrosporogenesis; in fact, the analysis of microsporogenesis showed the production of normal tetrads of microspores after normal meiosis. Possible application of the discovered mechanisms of 2n egg production in breeding research are discussed.

Abstract: The maize pollen grain represents the beginning of a short-lived gametophytic phase during which the two sperm are delivered to the embryo sac prior to fertilization. Although this stage of the life cycle normally consists of only a few cell divisions, under certain experimental conditions, gametophytes can be induced to undergo an altered development, leading to the production of haploid embryolike structures and/or callus, without an intervening fertilization. This remarkable process, referred to as androgenesis, is the biological basis for the in vitro techniques known as anther and microspore culture. This chapter describes some protocols associated with producing doubled haploid maize from cultured anthers and microspores.

Abstract: The organization of actin microfilaments (MFs) was studied during pollen development ofBrassica napus cv. Topas. Cells were prepared using three techniques and double labelled for fluorescence microscopy with rhodamine-labelled phalloidin for MFs and Hoechst 33258 for DNA. Microfilaments are present at all stages of pollen development with the exception of tricellular pollen just prior to anthesis. Unicellular microspores contain MFs which radiate from the surface of the nuclear envelope into the cytoplasm. During mitosis MFs form a network partially surrounding the mitotic apparatus and extend into the cytoplasm. Both cytoplasmic and phragmoplast-associated MFs are present during cytokinesis. Nuclear associated-, cytoplasmic, and randomly oriented cortical MFs appear in the vegetative cell of the bicellular microspore. Cortical MFs in the vegetative cell organize into parallel MF bundles (MFBs) aligned transverse to the furrows. The MFBs disappear prior to microspore elongation. At anthesis MFs are restricted to the cortical areas subjacent to the furrows of the vegetative cell. The use of cytochalasin D to disrupt MF function resulted in: (1) displacement of the acentric nucleus in the unicellular microspore; (2) displacement of the spindle apparatus in the mitotic cell; (3) symmetrical growth of the bicellular microspore rather than elongation and (4) inhibition of pollen tube germination in the mature pollen grain. This suggests that MFs play an important role in anchoring the nucleus in the unicellular microspore as well as the spindle apparatus during microspore mitosis, in microspore shape determination and in pollen tube germination.

Abstract: Three methods of microspore culture were tested for the induction of microspore embryogenesis in Camellia japonica L. cv. Elegans. Culture was performed on 17 different media consisting of Murashige and Skoog (MS) and N6 basal media with different combinations of carbon, growth regulators, serine and glutamine. Microspore suspensions plated over solid MS medium containing 4.5 μM 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 0.5 μM kinetin, with sucrose (MS6) or glucose (MS9) were seen as the best culture conditions for induction of embryogenesis. The development of microspore derived proembryos was obtained in MS medium supplemented with 2.2 μM N6-benzyladenine (MS10) and reached the highest level when the microspores were cultured in MS6 inducing medium. The development of microspore-derived embryos ceased at the maturation stage.

Abstract: The toxic effects of sucrose and glucose upon Hordeum vulgare L. ev Igri microspore cultures were investigated. It was concluded from this study that: -microspores could be cultured in the presence of low concentrations of glucose without any deleterious effects upon cell viability, but the microspores did not form embryos or calluses. -microspores died when incubated in the presence of 40 mM glucose during the first 2 of days of incubation, but, if glucose was added after this period, cells went on to produce embryos or calluses. -the toxic effects of sucrose upon cultured microspores were irreversible after 6 h from the start of incubation. Implications of these results on underlying causes of cell death in the presence of sucrose and glucose are discussed.

Abstract: The biochemical capacity of microspore-derived embryos of Brassica napus and other Brassicaceae for the synthesis and accumulation of triacylglycerols and oleosins is reviewed and compared with the data available for the corresponding zygotic embryos. The results of this comparison reveal that microspore-derived embryos of Brassicaceae synthesize and elongate fatty acids virtually in the same manner as known for zygotic embryos

Abstract: A heat treatment interrupts pollen development in isolated uninucleate microspore cultures of Brassica napus cv. Topas inducing embryogenesis. The mechanisms involved in the switch from gametogenesis to sporogenesis has been studied. The first pollen division occurs without the participation of a preprophase band of microtubules (PPB) which results in a cell plate which degenerates. The cultured microspores subjected to a heat treatment undergo a change in cellular organization and form PPBs in the first microspore division. It is suggested that this PPB formation ensures the stability of the future cell plate a critical step in the initiation of future multicellular structures which lead to embryogenesis.

Abstract: An embryological study of Piper methysticum Forster f. (Piperaceae), undertaken to identify the probable cause for the absence of fruits in cultivated varieties, has revealed that the majority of plants in all the cultivars examined bore only male flowers. The anthers are tetrasporangiate and the anther wall comprises a well-developed endothecium with fibrous thickenings, two middle layers and a glandular tapetum. Meiosis is normal and simultaneous cytokinesis leads to tetrahedral microspore tetrads. Pollen degeneration was observed but was of very rare occurrence. The pollen grains are released when they are 2-celled and appear to be healthy and capable of germination. The unilocular ovary contains a single basal ovule which is orthotropous, bitegmic, and crassinucellar. Both integuments contribute to the formation of the micropyle. The development of the female gametophyte conforms to the tetrasporic Fritillaria-type. No abnormalities were noticed either in meiosis of the megaspore mother cell or in subsequent development leading to the formation of the mature embryo sac. Occasional parthenocarpy was observed but without viable seeds being present inside. It is suggested that, although the lack of fruit formation in this species is not because of any deficiencies in its embryological development, it may be due to a simple self-incompatibility mechanism.

Abstract: The microsporogenesis and the male gametophyte development in the male fertile and male sterile anthers of Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp. (ms Prabhat) were studied using the cytochemical staining technique for polysaccharides, ascorbic acid, RNA and proteins. The pre-meiotic development was identical in the anthers of both the lines. During post-meiotic stages, sterile anthers showed persistent callose and tapetum. Breakdown of microspores occurred at late tetrad stage. Sterile anthers had ascorbic acid storage in the connective, even at mature stage. Male sterility had no effect on the formation of endothecium. It is postulated that the malfunctioning of the tapetum is a cause for the induction of male sterility.

Abstract: In the male gametophyte of Pelargonium zonale, generative and sperm cells contain cytoplasmic DNA in high density compared to vegetative cells. Cytoplasmic DNA was examined using the DNA fluorochrome DAPI (4'6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) and observed with epifluorescence and electron microscopy. The microspore cell contains a prominent central vacuole before mitosis; mitochondria and plastids are randomly distributed throughout the cytoplasm. Following the first pollen grain mitosis, neither the vegetative cell nor the early generative cell display a distributional difference in cytoplasmic DNA, nor is there in organelle content at this stage. During the maturation of the male gametophyte, however, a significant discrepancy in plastid abundance develops. Plastids in the generative cell return to proplastids and do not contain large starch grains, while those in the vegetative cell develop starch grains and differentiate into large amyloplasts. Plastid nucleoids in generative and sperm cells in a mature male gametophyte are easily discriminated after DAPI staining due to their compactness, while those in vegetative cells stained only weakly. The utility of the hydrophilic, non-autofluorescent resin Technovit 7100 in observing DAPI fluorescence is also demonstrated.