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Nuclear bodies in Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii Mirb.) microspores

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Abstract

The identification of nucleolar proteins and immunocytochemical localization of small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP) elements revealed the presence of three types of nuclear bodies in Douglas fir microspore nuclei. One type consists of structures resembling Cajal bodies (CBs) and contains nucleolar proteins as well as snRNPs and U2 snRNA. The second type is bizonal bodies, which are nuclear bodies also linked with the splicing system. The bizonal body comprises two parts: the first contains Sm proteins and stains strongly with silver stain, and the second resembles CBs in terms of the degree of silver staining and molecular composition. Douglas fir is the second species after larch where the presence of bizonal bodies has been demonstrated. Pseudotsuga menziesii Mirb and Larix decidua Mill are species with one of the longest microsporogenesis processes known in plants. The presence of bizonal bodies in both species may be linked to the intensification of the splicing processes in microspores with an exceptionally long cell cycle. The third type of structure is dense bodies, whose morphology and degree of silver staining strongly indicate their functional and spatial relationship to the dense part of bizonal bodies.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank Prof. A. Górska-Brylass for inspiration to study Douglas microsporogenesis. We thank Dr. A. Pombo (University of Oxford) for the AF-ANA serum and Dr. C. Sharp for his revision of the English. This work has been supported by the Chancellor of Nicolaus Copernicus University grant 505-B.

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  1. Department of Cell Biology, Institute of General and Molecular Biology, Nicolaus Copernicus University, 87–100, Torun, Poland

    Janusz Niedojadło, Katarzyna Dominowska & Elżbieta Bednarska

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  1. Janusz Niedojadło
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  2. Katarzyna Dominowska
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  3. Elżbieta Bednarska
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Correspondence to Janusz Niedojadło.

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Niedojadło, J., Dominowska, K. & Bednarska, E. Nuclear bodies in Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii Mirb.) microspores. Protoplasma 234, 77–85 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-008-0018-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-008-0018-3

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