The eye pigment system in Drosophila melanogaster has been studied with the electron microscope. Details in the development of pigment granules in wild type flies and in three eye color mutants are described. Four different types of pigment granules have been found. Type I granules, which carry ommochrome pigment and occur in both primary and secondary pigment cells of ommatidia, are believed to develop as vesicular secretions by way of the Golgi apparatus. :The formation of Type II granules, which are restricted to the secondary pigment cells and contain drosopterin pigments, involves accumulation of 60-to 80-A fibers producing an clliptical granule. Type III granules appear to be empty vesicles, except for small marginal arcas of dense material; they are thought to be abnormal entities containing ommochromc pigment. Type IV granules are characteristic of colorless mutants regardless of genotypc, and during the course of development they often contain glycogen, ribosomes, and show acid phosphatase activity; for these reasons and because of their bizarre and variable morphology, they are considered to be autophagic vacuoles. The 300-A particles commonly found in pigment cells arc identified as glycogen on the basis of their morphology and their sensitivity to salivary digestion.

Cell surfaces in the duodenal mucosa have been studied in maturing tissue of the chick from incubation until hatching. Changes in the distribution of mitoses in this tissue give an indication of its rate of maturation. This rate is paralleled in developmental changes in microvilli and junctional complexes. Concentration of mitotic figures towards the base of villous folds is gradual from day 9 to day 16, then rapid to day 19, after which the mature pattern is acquired. By day 11, microvilli appear in a regular pattern which does not alter through hatching. Their height remains the same to day 16 when it increases gradually to day 19, then very sharply. The angle formed between the microvilli and the cell surface increases gradually to day 16, giving evidence of advancing internal structure. Changes in cell adhesion also occur at day 16. Thereafter, following trypsin treatment cells are held together in patches by the tight junctions of the terminal bar, although the desmosomes are separated. The timing of these morphological changes is compared with that of alkaline phosphatase accumulation in this tissue as reported by Moog (13). Increase in the surface area of the microvilli parallels the increase in the activity of the enzyme.

Spermiogenesis in the translocation heterozygote T (1; 2H) 25(20) y l 25/FM6 has been studied with the electron microscope and compared with that in wild type males. It appears that the genetic lesion in the male sterility mutant is associated primarily with a failure in differentiation of the head. In wild type flies, the spermatid nucleus assumes a conchoidal shape; chromatin accumulates along the convex surface. Adjacent to the concave surface a large bundle of microtubules runs parallel to the long axis of the spermatid. A single row of microtubules is juxtaposed against the convex surface of the head. As differentiation proceeds, the nucleus elongates, chromatin condenses, and the nucleus is compacted to a final diameter of about 0.3 #. In the sterile mutant the spermatid nucleus has an irregular or wedge-shaped profile and no concavity is formed, nor is the bundle of microtubules observed. The row of microtubules, however, is usually present around the periphery. The change from lysine-rich to arginine-rich histone in mature wild type sperm does not occur in the sterile male. The substructure of the axial filament and mitochondrial derivatives, however, are similar to those in wild type.

Pollen of 48 species of Schefflera was studied by light and scanning electron microscopy. Eight pollen types are distinguished on the basis of sexine sculpturing and structure, apertural shape, and shape and size of the grains. These pollen types correlate well with other data such as the number of carpels, the condition of corolla, infloresence types, and geographical distribution of each species. To determine the evolutionary status of sexine structure, an association between sexine characters and the number of carpels was sought. Assuming polymery of floral parts to be a primitive condition in Araliaceae, the undifferentiated sexine, which occurs in the multicarpellate species, also appears to be primitive. Other unspecialized features include short grains, and non‐sculptured, imperforate tectum. Several species in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands belong to this putative ancestral pollen type, from which other types may have been derived.

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