Pollen ultrastructure in Aristolochia manshuriensis and A. contorta (Aristolochiaceae)

Pollen ultrastructure has been studied in two relict and rare species of the genus Aristolochia, A. contorta Bunge and A. manshuriensis Kom. (Aristolochiaceae). Both species have inaperturate, spheroidal, sometimes distally monocolpate or distally bicolpate pollen grains. The equatorial and polar axes of pollen grain in A. manshuriensis are 48.5 and 44.0 mu m, respectively. The percentage of defective pollen grains in A. manshuriensis is 3.4%. The fossulate, perforated exine is up to 2.3 mu m in thickness; the sexine and the nexine are almost equal in thickness. In A. contorta. the equatorial axis of pollen grain is 36.6 mu m: the defectiveness percentage, 24.5%. The exine is verrucate, up to 0.3 mu m in thickness, while the sexine is two to three times thicker than the ncxine. The pollen germination experiments have shown that pollen of A. manshuriensis, in contrast to A. contorta, can germinate in 10-20% sucrose at 22 degrees C. These data and the high percentage of pollen defectiveness in A. contorta indicate that the androecium function in this species is reduced. The reduction of the androecium function is evidenced by a small amount of pollen grains in anthers or empty anthers and a high percentage of defective pollen grains.