Question

Tapetal cells are

• A. Haploid
• B. Polyploid
• C. Diploid
• D. Triploid

Answer 1

Answer: (B)

Polyploid

• Tapetum is the innermost layer of the anther wall. It is single-layered and the cells have dense cytoplasm and prominent nuclei.
• A very common feature of the Tapetum is that total DNA content increases enormously in the meiotic prophase. This may arise due to many reasons like:

1. Endomitosis- It is also known as Endopolyploidy. It is a type of mitosis in which there is chromosome duplication and the separation of the chromatids takes place within the intact nuclear membrane because there is no spindle fiber formation. This results in the large polyploid nucleus.

2. Multinucleate condition- This arises when the nuclear division during meiosis is not followed by cell wall formation or cytokinesis.

3. Formation of restitution nuclei- In this, mitosis proceeds normally up to early anaphase stage but the two sets of chromosomes are not separated and they are incorporated into a common nuclear membrane. Thus, a restitution nucleus is formed.

Thus, tapetal cells are polyploid.

So, the correct answer is B.