[Cytological comparison of anther and pollen growth in Liriope spicata var. prolifera and L. spicata].
OBJECTIVE
To compare the difference of anther and pollen growth between Liriope spicata var. prolifera and L. spicate, and investigate the mechanism of the sterility of Liriope spicata var. prolifera.


METHODS
A comparative study on anther and pollen growth process was carried out between L. spicata var. prolifera and L. spicata by means of paraffin section.


RESULTS
In L. spicata, the tapetum was secretory tapetum and began to degrade during dyad stage. The cells of tapetum and middle layer disappeared thoroughly when pollens were fully mature at 3-celled stage. In L. spicata var. prolifera, the degradation of the tapetum took place at the early time of meiosis stage and the tapetum cells inflated like vacuolization. The mononuclear pollens were abortive, which eventually formed abnormal pollens.


CONCLUSIONS
The pollen abortion of L. spicata var. prolifera is associated with tapetum heteroplasia and degradation in advance.
Zhou
Qun
Q
Hubei Key Laboratory of Natural Medicinal Chemistry and Resource Evaluation, Tongji School of Pharmaceutical Science, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China. zqtcm@163.com
Zhou
Jian-Qiu
JQ
Cheng
Jun-Qi
JQ
Wang
Jing-Jing
JJ
Chen
Jia-Chun
JC
D035264:Flowers / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D031424:Liriope Plant / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D008540:Meiosis / Q000502:physiology*; D051479:Plant Infertility / Q000502:physiology; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D011058:Pollen / Q000502:physiology*