Distribution of plastids and mitochondria during male gametophyte formation in Tinantia erecta (Jacq.) Fenzl

During meiosis in microsporogenesis, autonomous cellular organelles, i.e., plastids and mitochondria, move and separate into daughter cells according to a specific pattern. This process called chondriokinesis is characteristic for a given plant species. The key criterion for classification of the chondriokinesis types was the arrangement of cell organelles during two meiosis phases: metaphase I and telophase I. The autonomous organelles participate in cytoplasmic inheritance; therefore, their precise distribution to daughter cells determines formation of identical viable microspores. In this study, the course of chondriokinesis during the development of the male gametophyte in Tinantia erecta was analyzed. The study was conducted using optical and transmission electron microscopes. During microsporogenesis in T. erecta, autonomous cell organelles moved in a manner defined as a neutral-equatorial type of chondriokinesis. Therefore, metaphase I plastids and mitochondria were evenly dispersed around the metaphase plate and formed an equatorial plate between the daughter nuclei in early telophase I. Changes in the ultrastructure of plastids and mitochondria during pollen microsporogenesis were also observed.