Membrane coatings on the generative cell surface of freeze-substituted monocotyledon pollen

Abstract

High-pressure freezing/freeze-substitution/TEM were employed for studying plasma membrane coatings in mature pollen grains. Data are presented on 6 species belonging to 4 not closely related orders. Two sorts of coatings were observed at the cytoplasmic face of the vegetative plasma membrane bordering the generative cell: (i) A dense, uniform layer with an average thickness of 10 nm (“fluffy coating”). (ii) “Strip-shaped projections” protruding rectangularly into the vegetative cytoplasm. They are 25 to 35 nm in height and set at a constant distance of about 30 nm from each other. Their maximum length, estimated from grazing sections, is about 400 nm. This is the first description of periodically arranged plasma membrane protrusions in freeze-substituted plant cells. Both kinds of membrane coatings are species-and age-dependent features. Especially “strip-shaped projections” are frequently intimately associated with polymorphic endoplasmic reticulum surrounding the generative cell, a hitherto unreported pattern. It is presumed that “strip-shaped projections” are similar to, or even identical with, “ordered ridges” observed in freeze-fracturedPhoenix dactylifera pollen.