A comparison of pollen wall development in normal and gametocide treated plants ofTriticum aestivum

SummaryPollen wall development in wheat plants untreated or treated with a gametocide was investigated using LM and TEM. The effect of the gametocide occurred mainly at the vacuolate stage, where most of the microspores were evidently aborted. There are three possibilities in which the used gametocide could be interfering in the abortion of the microspores: either by inhibiting the formation of sporopollenin, or by causing failure of the tapetum, or by deterioration of the vacuolar system that contains the digestive enzymes.