Amitosis in Chara

Abstract

The history of the nucleus and its method of division during ontogeny have been studied in Chara contraria and C. zeylanica. The results indicate that amitoses in the internodal cells of Chara are not manifestations of degeneration but, on the contrary, that they follow an orderly sequence. Amitosis involves a change in the form of the nucleus of the internodal initial to a ring-like one and division of the ring into two crescentic portions. A similar pattern of amitosis is repeated until, in older internodal cells, the minute, crescentic nuclei appear in clusters, often in denser masses of cytoplasm.