A catalogue of abnormalities in the division spindles of higher plants.

This catalogue collates observations on meiotic division in a large number of plant forms with abnormal meiosis, including mutants, wide hybrids, haploids, polyploids, aneuploids, and alloplasmics. The process of division spindle formation remains relatively unexplored in the "centrosomeless" world of higher plant cells. Thus, analysis of abnormal spindles, each of which is a result of an aberration of a distinct prometaphase stage, is informative. A catalogue of spindle abnormalities is also useful for analysing the morphological phenotype of the corresponding mutations, especially insertional ones. It is particularly worthwhile for those organisms that are less than ideal for cytological analysis, e.g. Arabidopsis. In the catalogue, abnormal spindles are listed in relation to the time of the manifestation of aberrations that caused them.