[The character of calcium distribution in developing anther of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.)].

Abstract

Potassium antimonite was used to locate calcium in the anther of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L) during its development. At the early stage of anther development there were few calcium granules in microspore mother cells and the cells of anther wall. After meiosis of microspore mother cells, calcium granules first appeared in the tapetal cells in which some small secretive vacuoles containing many calcium granules were formed and secreted into locule. Then, the tapetal cells began to degenerate. At the late stage of microspore, tapetal cells completely degenerated and its protoplast masses moved into anther locule with many calcium granules. Few calcium granules were precipitated in the microspores just being released from tetrad, but some on the surface of exine. Then calcium granules appeared in the nucleus and cytoplasm of early microspores, as wall as in the exine. When microspores formed some small vacuoles containing some calcium granules, and then the small vacuoles fused to form a large vacuole, the calcium granules in the nucleus and cytoplasm evidently decreased, microspore developed to the late stage. The result suggested that calcium is related to the formation of large vacuole in microspores. The wall of microspore also is a main location of calcium granules during its developing. At early microspore some calcium granules began to accumulate in exine, which suggested calcium related with exine formation. At late stage of microspore, most of calcium granules were mainly deposited on the surface of exine. After the first mitosis of microspores, the large vacuole of bicellular pollen disappeared and calcium granules in the large vacuole went back to cytoplasm again. When bicellular pollen synthesized starches some calcium granules appeared on the surface of starches, which suggested calcium may regulate starch synthesis. With amount of starches increasing, calcium granules disappeared from pollen cytoplasm and only some of them located on the surface of pollen.