Universitr of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore 560065.
* Present address: Division of Seed Science and Technology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012.
Histological and histochemical changes during microsporogenesis were studied in the CMS anthers of V20A and Pragathi A rices and their maintainers. Both the CMS lines differed from their respective maintainers in post-meiotic stages only. The tapetal and endothecial abnormalities were the main histological causes of male sterility in both CMS lines. The CMS anthers had lower insoluble polysaccharides, proteins and RNA content than their maintainer counterparts.
Histological, histochemical, male sterility, tapetum, endothecium
