Observations of Pollen Grain Mitosis in Allium Triquetrum

Abstract

In the majority of mitotic divisions that are studied, the metaphase plate is situated across the approximate centre of the cell, as in the root tip meristem of plants, and the resulting daughter cells are approximately equal in size. In pollen grain mitosis, however, the metaphase plate is asymmetrically positioned with the resultant division also consequently asymmetrical, with the production of a small generative cell and a large vegetative cell. From such asymmetrical divisions a considerable amount of useful information can be obtained that is relevant to general problems of mitosis. This work traces the first mitotic division of the pollen grain in Allium triquetrum as seen under the optical microscope, with the accent being more on the early stages of mitosis to show their relation to later events.