Gabriela Zarlavsky

Phytochrome A increases tolerance to high evaporative demand

Stresses resulting from high transpiration demand induce adjustments in plants that lead to reductions of water loss. These adjustments, including changes in water absorption, transport and/or loss by transpiration, are crucial to normal plant development. Tomato wild type (WT) and phytochrome A (phyA)-mutant plants, fri1-1, were exposed to conditions of either low or high transpiration demand and several morphological and physiological changes were measured during stress conditions. Mutant plants rapidly wilted compared to WT plants after exposure to high evaporative demand. Root size and hydraulic conductivity did not show significant differences between genotypes, suggesting that water absorption and transport through this organ could not explain the observed phenotype. Moreover, stomatal density was similar between genotypes, whereas transpiration and stomatal conductance were both lower in mutant than in WT plants. This was accompanied by a lower stem-specific hydraulic conductivity in mutant plants, which was associated to lower xylem vessel number and transversal area in fri1-1 plants, producing a reduction in water supply to the leaves, which rapidly wilted under high evaporative demand. PhyA signaling might facilitate the adjustment to environments differing widely in water evaporative demand in part through the modulation of xylem dimensions.

Pollen ontogeny in Magnolia liliflora Desr.

Pollen ontogeny contributes significantly to the evolutionary analysis and the understanding of the reproductive biology of seed plants. Although much research on basal angiosperms is being carried out there are still many important features about which little is known in these taxa, such as the sporophytic structures related to pollen development and morphology. In this study, pollen development of Magnolia liliflora was analyzed by optical microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The aim of this paper was to supply data that will help characterize basal angiosperms. Microsporogenesis is of the successive type, so that tetrads are decussate or isobilateral. The callosic walls form by the centripetal growth of furrows. The secretory tapetum develops orbicules, which start to form in the microspore tetrad stage. Pollen grains are shed at the bicellular stage. The exine wall has a granular infratectum. Ultrastructural changes observed in the cytoplasm of microspores and tapetal cells are related to the development of the pollen grain wall and orbicules. Centrifugal cell plates are more usual for the successive type of microsporogenesis. The presence of the successive type of microsporogenesis with callosic walls formed by the centripetal growth of furrows could reflect the fact that the successive type in Magnoliaceae is derived from the simultaneous type. The granular infratectum of the ectexine and the presence of orbicules could indicate that this species is one of the most evolved of the genus.

Pollen and microsporangium development in Hovenia dulcis (Rhamnaceae): a different type of tapetal cell ultrastructure.

Despite that there is some literature on pollen morphology of Rhamnaceae, studies addressing general aspects of the microsporogenesis, microgametogenesis, and anther development are rare. The aim of this paper is to describe the ultrastructure of pollen grain ontogeny with special attention to tapetum cytology in Hovenia dulcis. Anthers at different stages of development were processed for transmission and scanning electron microscopy, bright-field microscopy, and fluorescence microscopy. Different histochemical reactions were carried out. The ultrastructural changes observed during the development of the tapetal cells and pollen grains are described. Large vesicles containing carbohydrates occur in the tapetal cell cytoplasm during the early stages of pollen development. Its origin and composition are described and discussed. This is the first report on the ontogeny and ultrastructure of the pollen grain and related sporophytic structures of H. dulcis.

Structure of the style and pollen tube pathway in the Ziziphoid and Rhamnoid clades of Rhamnaceae

The ultrastructure of the style and pollen tube pathway before, during and after anthesis were studied in 13 species belonging to the tribes Pomaderreae, Paliureae, Colletieae and Gouanieae (Ziziphoid clade) and Rhamneae (Rhamnoid clade) using light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The aim of this study is to provide new morphological characters useful for phylogenetic analysis at suprageneric level in Rhamnaceae. The patterns of pollen tube growth and the ultrastructural changes undergone by cells of the style were also described. Species of Rhamneae (Scutia buxifolia and Condalia buxifolia) have a solid style, with the transmitting tissue forming three independent strands (S. buxifolia) or a central, single horseshoe-shaped strand as seen in transversal section (C. buxifolia) which could derive from the fusion of formerly independent strands. In contrast, Pomaderreae, Gouanieae and Paliureae showed semi-solid styles, while in Colletieae, as previously reported, the style is hollow with two or three stylar canals. The style anatomy and the ultrastructure of the pollen tube pathway show that there is a tendency towards a solid style with a single strand of transmitting tissue within the family. The three-canalled hollow style could be the plesiomorphic state of the character “type of style” in the family, the semi-solid style the synapomorphic state and the solid style with three strands of transmitting tissue the apomorphic state, with the solid style with a single strand of transmitting tissue as the most derived state. Therefore, Colletieae would be the most basal tribe of the Ziziphoid clade.

Developmental and ultrastructural characters of the pollen grains and tapetum in species of Nymphaea subgenus Hydrocallis

Variations in pollen characters and tapetum behavior were recently acknowledged in the early-divergent family Nymphaeaceae and even within the genus Nymphaea, which probably is not monophyletic; some traits such as infratectum and tapetum type are also a matter of different interpretations. In this study, developmental characters of the pollen grains and tapetum in Nymphaea subgenus Hydrocallis are provided for the first time. Observations were made in N. amazonum, N. gardneriana, and N. prolifera using light, scanning, and transmission electron microscopy. Tapetum is of the secretory type and produces orbicules. At microspore and pollen grain stages, the distal and proximal walls differ considerably. This result supports the operculate condition of the aperture in Hydrocallis, and such aperture might be plesiomorphic for Nymphaeoideae. The infratectum is intermediate, composed of inter-columellae granular elements, robust columellae consisting of agglomerated granules, complete columellae, and fused columellae. Narrow microchannels are present and persist until the mature pollen grain stage. The membranous granular layer is often present in the pollen grains of Nymphaeaceae. In N. gardneriana, this layer is most probably a component of the intine because it is lost after acetolysis. Orbicules in the Nymphaeaceae are characterized as spherical or subspherical, with a smooth sporopolleninic wall that surrounds an electron-lucent core and with individual orbicules that usually merge to give irregular aggregations. The aperture, pollen wall ultrastructure, and the tapetum of the studied species are discussed in an evolutionary and systematic context, and these characters are also compared with those of other angiosperm lineages.

Pollen development and anther morphology in 14 species of Rhamnaceae

Microsporogenesis, microgametogenesis, and anther structure of 14 species belonging to Rhamneae (Rhamnoids clade), Paliureae, Pomaderreae, Colletieae, and Gouanieae (Ziziphoids clade) of the Rhamnaceae family were analyzed using bright-field, scanning, and transmission electron microscopy. The aim is to look for morphological characters that have systematic value on a suprageneric level within the family. The character states of the number of nuclei in tapetal cells, the endothecial thickening pattern, and the number of endothecial layers are consistent on tribal level. Tribes were previously delineated based on molecular phylogenetic evidence. On the other hand, pollen morphology does not seem to have systematic value at tribal level in Rhamnaceae. The presence or absence of orbicules and their morphology vary within tribes. It seems that for Rhamnaceae, the anatomy of the reproductive sporophytic structures could have more systematic value than the gametophytic structures. However, more studies are needed to confirm this.