Abstract
The stages of tapetum development are characterized by the accumulation of substantial intracellular lipid deposits. Much of the pollen coat material, which is essential to pollen-stigma recognition and pollen germination, derives from tapetal lipid bodies found in two types of organelles: tapetosomes and elaioplasts. Tapetosomes are single-membrane-enclosed organelles containing relatively large lipid-rich structures; elaioplasts originate from plastids by the gradual accumulation of osmiophilic droplets. On the other hand, male gametophyte also contains various and characteristic lipid-rich organelles. We examined the ultrastructural analysis of anthers by chemical-fixation and cryo-fixation using a high pressure freezing method. We found some organelles showed poor electron density on cryo-fixation, while they contained osmiophilic materials on chemical-fixation. Furthermore, we observed the process of exocytosis and fuse of particles. We report novel structures of organelle in tapetum and male gametophyte and process of deposition of pollen coat.
