Abstract: Potassiam antimonate was used to localize Ca2+ in the micropyle and embryo sac of Brassica napus L. before and after pollination. To identify the nature of the pyroantimonate deposits, energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDXA) was employed and the deposits were proved to contain calcium pyroantimonate. Image processing system was employed to measure the volume density and the diameter of the deposits. Before and after pollination, calcium was more abundant in the exostome and endostome as compared with the other regions of the integuments, and was concentrated at the apoplast system, i.e. the intercellular matrix of the micropyle canal and the cell wall. Before pollination, each of the two sister synergids accumulated more calcium than the other embryo sac cells. Although the mean diameter of the deposits in the synergid was only two-thirds as that in the egg cell and central cell, the volume density of the deposits in the synergid was about 2.5 times and 1.9 times as that in the egg cell and the central cell respectively. The filiform apparatus and the nucleus had the most abundant calcium within a synergid. After pollination both sister synergids degenerated conspicuously and were characterized by much more deposited calcium (about 2.4 times more than before); and the diameter of the deposits decreased dramatically, which was less than one-third as before. The relationship between calcium distribution and synergid degeneration as well as its functions was discussed.

Key words: Brassica napus, Calcium, Ultracytochemistry, Embryo sac, Synergid, Image analysis