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Evolution of the cytoplasmic organelles during female meiosis in Pisum sativum L.

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Abstract

In this paper we have traced the evolution of the cytoplasmic organelles in the female germinal cell of Pisum sativum L., from the beginning of meiosis to the early stages of the maturing megaspore, in order to correlate the morphological changes with the physiological aspects of megasporogenesis.

A process of intense cytoplasmic vacuolation takes place in the megaspore mother cell (MMC) during prophase I, probably proceeding from the smooth endoplasmic reticulum and dictyosomes; it results in the formation of big vacuoles, which play a role in MMC polarization. By means of this polarization most plastids and mitochondria are incorporated into the functional megaspore at the end of meiosis.

There are plastid and mitochondria cycles which consist of dedifferentiation followed by redifferentiation, During these cycles a transient morphology appears, called a cup-shaped form, which we interpret as an expression of low organelle activity.

The wall of the MMC thickens throughout megasporogenesis and loses its plasmodesmata during middle prophase I. The ribosome population is reduced during prophase I and then restored during the early stages of the megaspore maturing process, as shown by the quantitative study that we have carried out. The nucleolar cytoplasmic bodies play a part in this restoring process. These bodies have a special morphology and appear to be originated from the activity of the nucleolar organizing region (NOR) during nucleolar disorganization in prophase I.

We think that this cytoplasmic evolution is a response to nuclear genic recombination, in order to provide the most adequate expression of the zygote genome.

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Abbreviations

EDTA:

ethylene-diamine-tetracetic acid

ER:

endoplasmic reticulum (SER: smooth ER)

MMC:

megaspore mother cell

NOR:

nucleolar organizing region

RNP:

ribonucleoproteins

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Author notes

  1. M. I. Rodriguez-Garsia

    Present address: Departmento de Bioquimica, Estación Experimental del Zaidin, C.S.I.C., Prof. Albareda I, Granada, Spain

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Morfogénesis Celular, Instituto de Biología Celular, C.S.I.C., Velazquez, 144, Madrid-6, Spain

    F. J. Medina, M. C. Risueño & M. I. Rodriguez-Garsia

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  1. F. J. Medina
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  2. M. C. Risueño
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  3. M. I. Rodriguez-Garsia
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Additional information

This work has been partially supported by the “Comisión Asesora para la investigación Cientifica by Técnica” Projects no 613/02 and 613/10

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Medina, F.J., Risueño, M.C. & Rodriguez-Garsia, M.I. Evolution of the cytoplasmic organelles during female meiosis in Pisum sativum L.. Planta 151, 215–225 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00395172

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