The male reproductive organ of an Arabidopsis plant, the stamen, is imaged by confocal microscopy. The stamen contains two major sections: a filamentous stalk and an anther. The anther is lined with nutritive tissue layer that initially contains diploid pollen mother cells. These cells undergo meiosis to form haploid spores, which then divide by mitosis to form immature &amp;#8220;microgametophytes,&amp;#8221; called pollen grains.
By Heiti Paves, Centre of Excellence ENVIRON, Estonia