Some aspects of the life history of Callistemon citrinus (Curt.) Skeels

1969 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 107 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Prakash

Pollen development is irregular in native populations but regular in the cultivated plants investigated. Development of the anther wall is of the Basic type and the tetrasporangiate anthers shed their pollen at the two-celled stage through longitudinal slits. The single vascular bundle of each stamen gives off two traces in the connective. The ovules are anatropous, crassinucellar, and bitegmic. The swollen distal ends of both integuments form the micropyle. The single archesporial cell cuts off a parietal cell, and during megasporogenesis a one- to three-layered parietal tissue is formed which collapses during the development of the embryo sac. Occasionally the megaspore mother cell degenerates but in these instances the growth of the ovule is unimpaired. The female gametophyte follows the Polygonum type of development, and when mature is eight-nucleate and includes three ephemeral antipodal cells. Some abnormalities pertaining to the number and arrangement of nuclei in the embryo sac have been observed and hardly 4% of the ovules form fertile seeds. The seed coat is formed from both the integuments. A hypostase is differentiated in the seed.


2001 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerri Clarke ◽  
Nallamilli Prakash

The floral morphology and embryology of two species of Australian Citrus L. occurring in the most southerly range of the genus, C. australasica F.Muell. and C. australis (Mudie) Planchon, have been studied. Cytokinesis in the microsporocytes was simultaneous resulting in tetrahedral tetrads. Tapetal cells were bi- to multinucleate and unevenly one- or two-layered. Microspore development was frequently asynchronous. Anther wall consisted of a layer of endothecium, three to five middle layers and one or two layers of Secretory tapetum. The ovules were anatropous, bitegmic and crassinucellate. Although multiple sporogenous cells that grew into multiple megasporocytes were common, occurrence of twin or multiple gametophytes was rare. Development of the female gametophyte was of the Polygonum type, with antipodal cells frequently persisting until after fertilisation. Endosperm was of the Nuclear type while embryogeny was of the Onagrad type. Both integuments contributed to the seed coat. Cells of the outer layer of the testa developed fibrous thickenings and secreted mucilage. Seeds were monoembryonate and seed germination was hypogeal. The recent move incorporating Australian native citrus species in to the genus Citrus was supported on the grounds of close embryological similarities.



1969 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 97 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Prakash

The anther is tetrasporangiate and the development of its wall is of the Basic type. Ubisch granules are formed on the surface of the tapetum at the signet-ring stage of the pollen grains. The anther dehisces by longitudinal slits, and pollen grains are shed at the two-celled stage. The female archesporium is subepidermal and cuts off the primary parietal cell. A six-layered parietal tissue is formed below the nucellar epidermis by the time megasporogenesis is completed. The flowers are protandrous, and in any given bud meiosis in megaspore mother cells follows that in microspore mother cells. Embryo sac development is of the Polygonum type and the antipodal cells are ephemeral. Cell formation in the nuclear endosperm commences at the micropylar end and proceeds towards the chalaza. Embryogeny corresponds to the Onagrad type and no evidence of polyembryony was found. Both the integuments take part in the formation of the seed coat, in which the cells of the outer layer of the outer integument are conspicuously elongated. A comparison is made with the embryological findings in other myrtaceous plants.



1977 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 615 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Prakash ◽  
EJ McAlister

In Bauera capitata Ser. ex DC. the anthers are tetrasporangiate with a three- or four-layered anther wall. The tapetum is glandular and its cells remain uninucleate. Tannin accumulates in the epidermis and the endothecium, and many connective cells in addition contain druses. Simultaneous cytokinesis leads to tetrahedral and isobilateral tetrads of microspores. The pollen is shed when two-nucleate and is gorged with starch. Degeneration of contents of one or more sporangia is frequent. The ovules are anatropous, crassinucellar and bitegmic. Twin microspore tetrads and twin embryo sacs are common but only one embryo sac reaches maturity. The development of the embryo sac follows the monosporic, Polygonum type. Starch accumulates in the mature embryo sac and remains until the initiation of endosperm. The antipodal cells persist until fertilization and rarely multiply. The seeds are frequently sterile but contain a well-formed outer integument. The healthy seeds have in addition a five- or six-layered inner integument, a nuclear type of endosperm and an embryo. The embryological evidence points to a closer affinity of Bauera Banks ex Andr. to the Cunoniaceae than to the Saxifragaceae.



1969 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 215 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Prakash

In Darwinia the floral parts are differentiated in a "calyx-orolla-gynoeciumandroecium" sequence. In individual buds stages of microsporogenesis markedly precede corresponding stages of megasporogenesis. The anther is tetrasporangiate with all sporangia lying in one plane. The secretory tapetum is one- to three-layered within the same microsporangium and a large number of Ubisch bodies are formed. The anthers dehisce by minute lateral pores and an ingenious mechanism helps disperse the twocelled pollen grains. A basal placenta in the single loculus of the ovary bears four ovules in D. micropetala and two in D. fascicularis. In both species, however, only one ovule is functional after fertilization. The fully grown ovules are anatropous, crassinucellar, and bitegmic; the inner integument forms the micropyle. The parietal tissue is most massive at the completion of megasporogenesis but is progressively destroyed later. The embryo sac follows the Polygonum type of developnlent and when mature is five-nucleate, the three antipodals being ephemeral. Following fertilization, the primary endosperm nucleus divides before the zygote. Subsequent nuclear divisions in the endosperm mother cell are synchronous and lead to a free-nuclear endosperm which becomes secondarily cellular, starting from the micropylar end at the time the globular embryo assumes an elongated shape. Embryogeny is irregular and the mature embryo is straight with a massive radicle and a hypocotyl which terminates in two barely recognizable cotyledons. Sometimes the minute cotyledons are borne on a narrow neck-like extension of the hypocotyl. A suspensor is absent. Both integuments are represented in the seed coat and only the outer layer of the outer and the inner layer of the inner integuments, with their thick-walled tanniniferous cells, remain in the fully grown seed. The ovary wall is demarcated into an outer zone containing oil glands surrounded by cells containing a tannin-like substance and an inner zone of spongy parenchyma. In the fruit this spongy zone breaks down completely but the outer zone is retained. The two species of Darwinia, while closely resembling each other in their embryology, differ significantly from other Myrtaceae. However, no taxonomic conclusions are drawn at this stage, pending enquiry into the life history of other members of the tribe Chamaelaucieae.



1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (5) ◽  
pp. 1325-1330 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. N. Bhandari ◽  
P. Chitralekha

Wall formation in Ranunculus sceleratus takes place simultaneously at the micropylar and chalazal poles of the embryo sac. During the last (third) mitotic division resulting in an eight-nucleate embryo sac, three distinct cell plates are formed at either pole. Of the three cell plates, CPI (horizontal), CPE (oblique), and CPIII (vertical), the first two are formed between the separating chromatin masses of the two dividing nuclei. CPIII (vertical cell plate) arises subsequently between the first two plates. CPI (horizontal cell plate) extends perpendicular to the long axis of the embryo sac to separate the central vacuole and one nucleus (polar) from the quartet of nuclei. The other two cell plates extend simultaneously between the three remaining nuclei; CPII (oblique plate) cuts off one of the nuclei while CPIII (vertical cell plate) separates the other two. Consequently, the egg apparatus, central cell with two polar nuclei, and three antipodal cells are formed.



1963 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 152 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Want

In Wahlenbergia bicolor, the anther wall is composed of four layers: epidermis, endothecium, middle layer, and tapetum. Wall formation and microsporogenesis are described, and the pollen grains are shed at the two-celled condition. The ovules are tenuinucellate, with a hypodermal archesporial cell which develops directly as the megaspore mother cell. Megasporogenesis is normal, and a monosporic eight-nucleate embryo sac of the most common Polygonum type develops from the chalazal megaspore. The antipodals degenerate before fertilization. The development of the embryo is of the solanad type. A suspected case of polyembryony was observed. The endosperm is cellular from its inception, and so conforms to the Codonopsis type. A micropylar and a chalazal haustoriurn, both consisting of two uninucleate cells, are formed from the endosperm. Comparative studies were made with a known but as yet undescribed coastal species of Wahlenbergia, and no differences were found.



1968 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
GL Davis

Flower buds are first recognizable in late December at the commencement of new growth, and the deciduous bracts enclosing each cyme are shed about 3 weeks later. The buds increase rapidly in size, but anthesis does not occur until the end of September and the seeds are not shed from the capsules until the following August. The development of the double operculum and the floral parts is traced. Archesporal tissue is differentiated in the anthers in late February but ovule primordia are not formed until the end of March, by which time the stamens have reached their full size and anther wall formation is well advanced. In each bud events in the anthers and ovules are broadly comparable, but variation in the stages of development occurs between buds on the same branch. Meiosis takes place during the winter months, and embryo sac development follows the Polygonum type. The components of the egg apparatus undergo a threefold increase in size after their formation and, whereas the egg contains little cytoplasm, the synergids become densely cytoplasmic and laterally hooked. The pollen grains are two-celled when they are shed through the slits at the apices of the anthers. A comparison is made of the embryology of E. melliodora and that of species cultivated in Italy and the Black Sea area of the Soviet Union.



1992 ◽  
Vol 40 (6) ◽  
pp. 877 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Prakash ◽  
AL Lim ◽  
FB Sampson

Three species of Tasmannia R.Br. ex DC., T. glaucifolia, T. insipida and T. stipitata are studied. The anther is tetrasporangiate and its waU development conforms to the Basic type. The tapetum follows the secretory type of development. Cytokinesis in the microspore mother cells is simultaneous but an evanescent cell plate is present at telophase I and anaphase I1 during meiosis. Pollen tetrads are permanent and tetrahedral. The mature pollen is anaulcerate, reticulate and 2-celled. The ovule. is anatropous, bitegmic and crassinucellate. The micropyle in T. stipitata and T. Glaucifolia is formed by the inner integument only whereas in T. insipida it is formed by both the integuments and is zigzag in outline. Meiosis in the single megaspore mother cell produces a linear or T-shaped megaspore tetrad in T. stipitata and T. glaucifolia but only a linear tetrad in T. insipida. Female gametophyte development is of the monosporic Polygonum type. Fertilisation is porogamous; triple fusion and syngamy occur simultaneously.



Bothalia ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. J. Spies ◽  
C. H. Stirton

Twenty embryo sacs from each of 20 different  Lantana camara L. cultivars naturalized in South Africa were examined. The normal sexual embryo sacs were monosporic 8-nucleated embryo sacs of the polygonum type and were encountered in 55% of the material examined. Several deviations from this pattern were recorded. Occasionally one of the nuclei failed to develop into a synergid, resulting in three polar nuclei. Contrary to published information, the antipodal cells did not increase in size, nor was there an increase in the number of nuclei per cell. Although the occurrence of sexuality is confirmed, no definite evidence exists for the occurrence of apomixis. The occurrence of two embryo sacs per locule might be the result of either apospory or of sexuality whereby two embryo sacs were formed from two megaspores.



1996 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 243 ◽  
Author(s):  
JG Conran

The relationships of the Byblidaceae have been the subject of a number of recent molecular phylogenetic studies where their traditional relationships with the Roridulaceae and other members of the Rosidae have been overturned in favour of affinities with the Asteridae, in particular to the Lentibulariaceae in the Lamiales. Although the embryological relationships between these families were the subject of an earlier study, the data for the Byblidaceae were incomplete. The family has tetrasporangiate, bilocular anthers with a glandular bi-nucleate tapetum. Formation of the anther wall appears to be of the Dicotyledonous type, and the anthers have ephemeral middle layers and apical fibrous thickenings. Simultaneous microsporogenesis results in tetrahedral tetrads of bi-nucleate pollen grains. The ovules are anatropous, unitegmic and tenuinucellate. Megasporogenesis is direct from the archesporal cell, which in Byblis liniflora Salisb. divides to produce a linear tetrad from which a chalazal megaspore is derived (contrary to a report of a micropylar megaspore in B. gigantea Lindl.). Megagametogenesis conforms to the Polygonum type, and the antipodal cells are persistent. The endosperm is ab initio Cellular and there are well developed micropylar and chalazal haustoria. Embryogenesis appears to conform to the Onagrad type noted for several of the other members of the Lamiales s.l., including the Lentibulariaceae, to which the Byblidaceae have been related in recent molecular studies.



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