Cell Growth and Nucleic Acids in the Pollen of Rhoeo Discolor

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Abstract
A cytoplasmic basophily removed by digestion with ribonuclease is used to identify and to follow the distribution of ribonucleic acid in the cells of anthers and in the stigmas. Rapid cell growth is invariably accompanied by the presence of large amts. of ribonucleic acid in the cytoplasm and heavy deposits of chromatin in nuclei. Young pollen mother and tapetal cells are rich in ribonucleic acid. During the growth of the p.m.c. this cytoplasmic nucleic acid is used up. After meiosis ribonucleic acid accumulates in pollen cells. Apparently this new material comes from the cytolysis of tapetal tissue and is stored in mature pollen to be used in the rapid synthesis of material during the formation of the pollen tube. There is a close similarity between microspore growth and the growth of oocytes in animals. Theoretical implications of these facts are discussed at length, especially the relationship between ribose and desoxyribose nucleic acids during the mitotic cycle.

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