During meiosis in microsporogenesis, autonomous cellular organelles, i.e., plastids and mitochondria, move and separate into daughter cells according to a specific pattern. This process called chondriokinesis is characteristic for a given plant species. The key criterion for classification of the chondriokinesis types was the arrangement of cell organelles during two meiosis phases: metaphase I and telophase I. The autonomous organelles participate in cytoplasmic inheritance; therefore, their precise distribution to daughter cells determines formation of identical viable microspores. In this study, the course of chondriokinesis during the development of the male gametophyte in Tinantia erecta was analyzed. The study was conducted using optical and transmission electron microscopes. During microsporogenesis in T. erecta , autonomous cell organelles moved in a manner defined as a neutral-equatorial type of chondriokinesis. Therefore, metaphase I plastids and mitochondria were evenly dispersed around the metaphase plate and formed an equatorial plate between the daughter nuclei in early telophase I. Changes in the ultrastructure of plastids and mitochondria during pollen microsporogenesis were also observed.
In this study, we present investigations of morphological changes in the inflorescence of bolting Allium sativum L., which forms umbel-like inflorescences with small, inconspicuous flowers, bulbils, and leaf-like membranous bracts. Particular attention was focused on the architecture of a single flower, and the full sequence of developmental events and the differentiation of flower elements and inflorescence were traced. During the several-year long investigations of the garlic species, we observed that all inflorescence elements emerged chaotically, taking a completely random place in the inflorescence receptacle and it was impossible to identify the sequence of formation of the individual inflorescence elements. The absence of regular phyllotaxis and the specific sequence of formation of inflorescence elements are characteristic for inflorescence reversion. Since domesticated garlic has lost the capacity for sexual reproduction, it has probably evolved alternative reproduction modes in its developmental strategy, which is reflected by the formation of numerous bulbils (vegetative buds, topsets) in the inflorescence. This is one of the forms of reproductive strategy of the species, which through domestication progresses from sexual to asexual reproduction.
Representatives of the family Commelinaceae are characterised by morphologically, anatomically, or functionally diverse stamens (common presence of staminodia), which produce diverse pollen grains. The heteromorphism of stamens noted in all Commelinaceae species is a particular example of the evolutionary modification of the androecium in entomophilous plants. The morphological, anatomical, and cytological analyses of the androecium as well as the analysis of the microsporogenesis process and the formation of the male gametophyte in Tinantia erecta (a species belonging to the family Commelinaceae) have demonstrated that the morphologically diverse stamens in this species do not differ anatomically. Furthermore, the process of microsporogenesis followed by gametogenesis occurring in the stamens yields pollen grains with the same morphology, cytology, and function. Therefore, despite the large morphological diversity of the androecium, all anthers in T. erecta produce male gametophytes that are identical in every respect, which is a unique feature in species from the Commelinaceae family. Additionally, T. erecta is capable of self-pollination; hence, it can be claimed that the species uses its entire reproductive potential to produce seeds and a next generation.
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