Regression and elimination of cytoplasmic organelles during meiosis in Lycopodium

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Abstract
Electron microscope observations on the sporocytes of Lycopodium gnidioides L. at meiotic prophase show that there is appreciable variation in the structure of the mitochondria, a circumstance which suggests that the organelles are undergoing a phase of de-differentiation. The plastids in the cells are ensheathed by cisternae of the non-ribosomal endoplasmic reticulum and stages in the modification of the plastids terminating in whorls of parallel membrane have been detected. This leads to the proposition that at least some of the plastids in each sporocyte are eliminated by focal autolysis and that this process and mitochondrial regression are preparations for the sporophyte-gametophyte transition.

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