Abstract
The development of the Golgi body during the microsporogenesis of Tradescantia paludosa was observed by use of an electron microscope. It was found that all the Golgi bodies develop more or less synchronously in the pollen mother cell, in the microspore after meiosis, and in the pollen grain after postmeiotic mitosis. The youngest form of this organelle is a single ring-cisterna. The organelle enlarges by addition of other concentric cisternae. These arrays open out to form a stack of parallel and straight cisternae, which later decreases in number by vesiculation.
As the synchronous development of the Golgi bodies is followed by simultaneous degeneration, three generations of the Golgi bodies are recognizable during the formation and development of the pollen grains; the first generation is found in the pollen mother cell, the second in the young microspore, and the third in the pollen grain after the postmeiotic mitosis. The change in generation of the organelle takes place during mitoses, namely during meiotic mitosis and postmeiotic mitosis.
In somatic cells such as root meristems, elongating zone of roots, and stigmas as well as in the sporogeneous cells in young anthers, there are various forms of the Golgi bodies in the same cell, indicating that the Golgi bodies do not develop synchronously. Their synchronous development during the formation of pollen grains is, thus, a striking incident, which starts from preleptotene of meiosis.
