SARATOV, RUSSIA
Saratov State University

Manifestation of the character “Polar nuclei fusion”

— Kolesova, AY; Tyrnov, VS

The genetics of many embryological characters has been examined insufficiently. In individual cases it is connected with absence of the necessary mutants. The behavior of polar nuclei is an important character since it is connected with endosperm formation and variability of its ploidy correlative with the different reproduction system (apomixis, haploidy, androgenesis in vivo). According to different authors’ data, polar nuclei in maize do not fuse before fertilization. However, exceptions to the rule were noted. We investigated some homozygous maize lines, produced from haploids. In three plants of each line 200–250 embryo sacs were analysed. The ovaries were fixed after 7 days from appearance of the silk.

In four lines polar nuclei fusion was not observed. In 12 lines polar nuclei fused, but the frequency of this phenomenon in the different lines was not equal (1–38 %). The great differences in the extent of character manifestation point out the probability of their genetic conditionality.

Production and crossing of the contrasting lines should allow us to solve this problem in future.


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