I assume chloroplasts in sperm are transmitted as proplastids, very small,
unpigmented plastids. Meristematic tissues also have proplastids. Where they
differentiate in the plant determines what type of plastid they will develop
into--e.g. chloro, chromo, amylo, etc.
The traditional view that plastids are transmitted only maternally doesn't
surprise me. They really are small and difficult to see. My suspicion is
that paternal and biparental inheritance are far more extensive than we tend
to think, but still not as common as maternal.
Doug
Dave Haas wrote:
> Please excuse my ignorance but exactly how are plastids inherited from the
> male gametophyte. I didn't think the pollen grain contained any plastids.
> Do they develop spontaneously in the gametophyte or are they hiding
> somewhere in one of the pollen grain cells.
>> D. Haas
--
Douglas P. Jensen
Assistant Professor of Biology
Converse College
580 East Main Street
Spartanburg, South Carolina 29302
(864)596-9123
fax: (864)596-9201
