A cytochemical study of pollinium development in Calanthe Masuca (Orchidaceae).

Meiotic Defects and Premature Tapetal Degeneration Are Involved in the Low Fertility of Oncidesa Gower Ramsey, an Important Cut-flower Orchid

“…Especially, the tapetum, the most inner somatic cell layer of the anther locule, plays an essential role in pollen development. Tapetum secrets enzymes for the release of microspores from tetrads and provides nutrients and pollen wall materials required for pollen development and maturation (Goldberg et al, 1993;Hegde and Rudramuniyappa, 1986;Wilson and Yang, 2004). It has been observed that the abnormal development or dysfunction of tapetum may lead to the pollen degeneration in a number of plants, for example, Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh (Kim et al, 2010), garlic (Shemesh-Mayer et al, 2015), kiwifruit (Giuseppina et al, 2013), tomato (Jeong et al, 2014), Solanum Lindl.…”

“…The pollinia development of orchids has been reported in Calanthe Lindl. (Hegde and Rudramuniyappa, 1986), Epidendrum Lindl. (Yeung, 1987;Yeung and Blackman, 1983), Zeuxine Lindl.…”