Development of the pollen in the antarctic flowering plant Colobanthus quitensis (Kunth) Bartl.

Abstract

Colobanthus quitensis (Kunth) Bartl. produced two types very small bisexual fl owers. In the Antarctic natural conditions chasmogamic and cleistogamic fl owers most often form fi ve stamina with short fi laments. Two microsporangia with a three-layer wall form in the anther. Microspore mother cells, which develop into microspores after meiosis, form inside the microsporangium. Microsporocytes of Colobanthus quitensis are surrounded with a thick callose layer, the special wall. After meiosis, the callose wall is dissolved and microspores are released from the tetrad. The production of proorbicules, orbicules and peritapetal membrane, and the construction of a complex sporoderm with numerous apertural sites were observed. When microspore and pollen protoplasts underwent necrosis, probably as a result of temperature and osmotic stress, sporoderm layers formed around microspores, and the cell tapetum did not disintegrate. However, woody wall layers did not accumulate in endothecium cells.