Some Experiments on the Polarity of Spores in Dryopteris erthrosora and Equisetum arvense

抄録

Some experiments were made on the polarity of Dryopteris erthrosora and Equisetum arvense. The results obtained are as follows:
1. When Dryopteris spores were cultured in a medium containing tryptophane, the hypertrophy of spore occurs prior to the first division. If the spore, the exine membrane of which being taken away by this method, is immersed in a concentrated KOH solution, the partial thickening of spore membrane was clearly seen as in Equisetum spore. The thickening place is now called the “rhizoid-bearing region” or “RBR” by abbreviation. The rhizoid is usually formed in the RBR. This is true in the tryptophane-containing medium. In the case of the secondary or lateral rhizoid which is formed at the spore cultured in the naphthalene acetic acid-containing medium, the RBR is so found that it stands for the centre of rhizoid formation rather than that of the original polarity. The partial and localized accumulation of some substances coloured in the KOH solution was found within the spore.
2. In Equisetum, the giant spore obtained by the colchicine treatment does not show the gradients in regard to the distribution of red colouredsubstances and to the vital staining with Nile blue, while the cell aggregates without rhizoids induced by Na-salt of adenosine triphosphate or chloralhydrate show an obvious gradient mentioned above.
3. The cause and mechanism of the rhizoid-differentiation in ferns were discussed and a working hypothesis was proposed in the present paper