Anther wall layers control pollen sugar nutrition inLilium

Summary

Anthers ofLilium were for the first time investigated at the ultrastructural level in order to appreciate the possible ways of sugar transport in the microsporangium. Our results have shown that the cells of the outer anther wall layers and the cell of the connective were interconnected by plasmodesmata, thus allowing assimilates to travel through the symplasmic pathway from the vascular bundle to the most internal middle layer (ML 1). ML 1 was devoid of cell communication throughout pollen development. Tapetal cells were also lacking plasmodesmata on their external face towards ML 1, but adjacent tapetal cells developed lateral junctions: the tapetum could represent a syncytium. Sugars destinated to pollen in the loculus have then to cross the ML 1 and the tapetal layers by the apoplasmic pathway; it is suggested that these two envelopes could be involved in the control of sugar transport from the outer anther wall layers to the locular fluid. Before microspore mitosis, the tapetum degenerated but ML 1 remained structurally unchanged. During pollen development, the guard cells of stomata were lacking cell communication, and preserved their starch content, which could be the sign of photosynthesis within the anther wall. In order to check whether these structural disconnections in anther tissues corresponded to physiological barriers, isolated pollen and stamens were cultivated during the anther maturation phase, on a medium containing increasing concentrations of sucrose (0 M, 1/6 M, 1/2 M, 1 M). After 7 days of culture, isolated pollen was engorged with starch grains and was unable to germinate, whereas in cultivated stamens, pollen did not contain any starch grain: sporophytic tissues, however, accumulated abnormal amylaceous reserves. These results strongly suggest that the anther wall layers, in particular ML 1, starve pollen with sugars during its maturation. They are acting as a physiological buffer storing nutriment surplus in starch grains.