The Development of the Ascocarp in Pseudoplea Gaeumannii

SUMMARY

The ascocarps of Pseudoplea Gaeumannii arise by the division of a small group of enlarged cells to form a globose parenchymatic stroma. In certain favored cells of this stroma the nuclei increase in number and size, giving rise to an ascogenous system. No cell or nuclear fusion nor nuclear pairing was seen at this stage. Eventually, enlarged cells, each with a single pair of enlarging nuclei, appear. These give rise to the asci in which nuclear fusion and meiosis occurs. The spores are at first uninucleate but at maturity contain numerous nuclei. Nuclear behavior is followed throughout. The large nucleoli are always prominent, but the details of chromatin behavior were difficult to follow, and such material often could not be detected.