Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 December 1997
In Melanospora zamiae a total of five nuclear divisions took place during ascosporogenesis. The first and second divisions were meiotic in which the single diploid nucleus divided into four haploid nuclei. The mitosis that followed gave rise to eight nuclei which characteristically assumed a 1[ratio ]4[ratio ]3 (apical[ratio ]middle[ratio ]basal) spacing in the clavate ascus. After ascospore delimitation, each nucleus in the young ascospore underwent two successive mitoses producing four haploid nuclei in each spore. Equatorial arrangement of these nuclei was observed in the mature ascospores.