Despite their great economic importance, relatively little is known about bamboo sexual reproduction because they usually spread through rhizomes and have long intervals between flowering periods. Bambusa tuldoides is no exception; the intervals between flowering periods are about 23 years and often do not result in successful caryopsis production. The aim of the present work was to characterize Bambusa tuldoides sexual reproduction at three stages of flower development and investigate possible male sterility. Pollen was cultured onto several types of culture medium in order to encourage germination, but not a single of the thousands of observed pollen germinated under any condition. Anthers and microspores were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and optical microscopy techniques. Anther dehiscence appeared to be normal when compared to other species. In contrast, microspores began to develop abnormally starting as early as the first flower development stage: retraction of the cytoplasm and rupture of the nuclear and mitochondria membrane. As the interior machinery of the microspores degenerated, starch accumulated within numerous amyloplasts during stages two to four of flower development. The sporoderms of these microspores were similarly incomplete: though they possessed an exine, they lacked an intine. The results here obtained suggest that the non-viability of these abnormal pollen grains prevents the development of Bambusa tuldoides caryopses.
Keywords: Abnormal microspores; Bamboo; Genetic diversity; Scanning electron microscopy.