Chapter VIII 



— 83 — 



The Ghondriome (cont'd) 



mant state (Guilliermond, Wagner). Some of the chondrio- 

 somes later, at germination, form the amyloplasts of the root and 

 the chloroplasts of the chlorophyll-bearing organs (leaves, etc.). 

 It has been proved by our research that chondriosomes exist per- 

 manently in all phanerogam cells and that they are transmitted by 

 division from one cell to the next. 



Fig. 51. — Portion of the embryo sac of Lilium eandi- 

 dum. 1, 2, stages in the development of the plastids 

 (P) and the mitochondria (M) ; 3, digestion in the 

 plastids. 



The origin of plastids, which for so long remained obscure in 

 the phanerogams, is now well known, through the use of mito- 

 chondrial techniques, by means of which a chondriome has been 

 demonstrated in embryonic cells analogous to that in animal cells. 

 The entire life history of this chondriome has been followed and 

 it has been shown that events take place as if the plastids arose 

 by differentiation of some of the elements of the chondriome. 



Fig. 52 (left). — Development of the chondriome during the formation of pollen grains 

 in Lilium canadense. 1, sporogenous cells; 2, spore mother cell in synizesis, leucoplasts appear 

 slightly larger than other chondriosomes; 3, metaphase, leucoplasts have become chondrioconts; 

 4, anaphase; 5, pollen grain, leucoplasts slightly larger than other chondriosomes, various stages 

 in development of compound starch grains. 



Fig. 53 (right). — Chondriome in pollen of Helleborus foetidus. 1, synizesis; 2, accumula- 

 tion of chondriosomes about the nuclear figures of the first division; 3, pollen grain; 4, 

 generative cell. (After Miss Py). 



There is still one gap in our knowledge. This is the behavior 

 of chondriosomes during fertilization. It is still not known whether 

 the chondriosomes of male origin participate in this phenomenon. 

 In a recent work, however, Lewis Anderson reports having ob- 



