Department of Botany, R. B. S. College, Agra-282002.
A comparative morpholigial and histochemical study in male-fertile, genic as well as chemically induced male-sterile plants of Cucurbita maxima was undertaken. Male sterility in this species was associated with tapetal abnormalities in pre- and post-meiotic stages mainly due to starvation caused by poor vascular differentiation. This fact is also supported by present histochemical observations indicating deficiency of total carbohydrates of insoluble polysaccharides, DNA, histones, total proteins and enzyme acid phosphatase in the anthers of complete male-sterile plants.
