[The dynamic of calcium distribution during megasporegenesis of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.)]

Potassium antimonite was used to deposit calcium in the young ovule of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) at megasporogenesis stage to study the relationship between calcium and megaspore degeneration. At the megaspore mother cell stage, few calcium granules were formed in the cell (Plate I-1, 2). After meiosis of megaspore mother cell and forming an arrayed tetrad in a line (Plate I-3), three megaspores degenerated one by one from the micropyle end. In the process of degeneration, the numbers of calcium granules decreased in the three megaspores. After the first megaspore degenerated, the number of calcium granules decreased in the second megaspore, which began to degenerate (Plate II-7, 8). The third megaspore also had its number of calcium granules diminishing before it degenerated (Plate III-13, 14). The fourth megaspore always accumulated many calcium granules in the cytoplasm during its development (Plate IV-17, 18) and finally becomes functional one that will develop into an embryo sac (Plate IV-20). Megaspore degeneration is a process of programmed cell death which may be closely related with change in calcium content: when a megaspore of tetrad decreases calcium content the cell begins to degenerate, and when calcium increases in the cell, it will continue to develop into a functional megaspore. This is the first report about calcium distribution in megaspores of a tetrad during megasporogenesis in higher plants and will open a door to study the physiological function of calcium in megasporogenesis.