XVI International Botanical Congess

The development of the anther, ovule and seed in Vaccinium myrtillus (Leningradskaya region of the Russia) is characterized by abnormalities both in the control and in the presence of total aerial pollution. The anther wall is formed without deviations. But in the mature anther the abnormal pollen (changing the shape of one-cellular pollen grains, presence of degenerating nucleus, dark cytoplasm) are found besides normal two-cellular pollen grains in tetrads. the number of germinating pollen on nutrient medium varies in the both cases. Abnormalities in the ovule are manifested in the destruction of whole ovules, embryo sac preferably after fertilization, in the irregularities during endosperm formation and total disappearance of the embryo and endosperm. In a result, in V. myrtillus the heterogenous seeds in the fruit are observed (Anisimova, 1997). The potential and real seed production (in a fruit) slightly differ. It seems, the observed abnormalities in the ovule and seed development are not connected with total aerial pollution, because they are characteristic for both control and pollution sites. Besides, those abnormalities were found in other members of the Ericaceae and in number of flowering plants without the presence of the pollution.