Cytological Abnormalities in the Embryo-sac Mother Cell and Endosperm Tissue of Lilium formolongo Hort. and Allium fistulosum L

Abstract

Cytological abnormalities in the embryo-sac mother cell and endosperm tissue were observed in Allium and Lilium. The following points were made clear:
1. Nuclear divisions in the central part of endosperm are characterized by endomitosis, highly polyploidy and cytological abnormalities. These phenomena can be regarded as the indicators of the degenerating cell and also of chromosome decay in aging cells.
Chromosome aberrations appear most frequently in highly polyploid cells. Polyploidy and mitotic abnormalities occur commonly in the endosperm of normal plants.
2. The abnormalities of embryo-sac and embryo development were described in Lilium. Some specimens had an abnormal embryo-sac, but in both immature and nearly mature embryos chromosome aberrations were not found.
3. It is unlikely that cytological abnormalities taking place in the early developmental stage of embryo-sac, endosperm and young embryo reappear in the seedling.