Cell biological characterization of male meiosis and pollen development in rice

Little systematic analysis has been undertaken in rice (Oryza sativa L.) on the stages of male meiosis from leptotene to telophase II or of pollen development from microspores to mature pollen grains. The present study describes multiple stages in detail from analysis of rice chromosome spreading with staining of 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole. The description of normal wild-type male meiosis provides an important morphological reference for analyses of meiotic mutants. Meiosis in rice is largely similar to those of the well characterizing model plants Arabidopsis thaliana L. and Zea mays L. However, rice meiosis differs from that in Arabidopsis in that rice meiosis I is followed by the formation of a cell plate, instead of an organelle band that forms between the two nuclei and persist through meiosis II. This suggests a difference in the control of organelle biogenesis and distribution and cytokinesis. Our results should facilitate studies of rice meiosis and pollen development using molecular genetic and cell biological approaches.