EVOLUTION OF THE SEED PLANTS AND INCLUSIVE FITNESS OF PLANT TISSUES

Abstract Angiosperms that are biotically pollinated typically produce flowers with bright and contrasting colours that help to attract pollinators and hence contribute to the reproductive success of the species. This colourful array contrasts with the much less multicoloured reproductive structures of the four living gymnosperm lineages, which are mostly wind pollinated, though cycads and Gnetales are predominantly pollinated by insects that feed on surface fluids from the pollination drops. This review examines the possible evolutionary pathways and cryptic clues for flower colour in both living and fossil seed plants. It investigates how the ancestral flowering plants could have overcome the inevitable trade-off that exists between attracting pollinators and minimizing herbivory, and explores the possible evolutionary and biological inferences from the colours that occur in some living gymnosperms. The red colours present in the seed-cone bracts of some living conifers result from accumulation of anthocyanin pigments; their likely primary function is to help protect the growing plant tissues under particular environmental conditions. Thus, the visual cue provided by colour in flower petals could have first evolved as a secondary effect, probably post-dating the evolution of bee colour vision but occurring before the subsequent functional accumulation of a range of different flower pigments.

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Microscopy studies of powdery mildew on summer squash

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s042482010008691x ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 49 ◽

pp. 520-521

Author(s):

John S. Gardner ◽

W. M. Hess

Keyword(s):

Powdery Mildew ◽

Tip Growth ◽

Hyphal Growth ◽

Plant Tissues ◽

Vegetative Hypha ◽

Powdery Mildews ◽

Summer Squash ◽

Conidial Formation ◽

Polar Tip Growth ◽

Short Conidiophore

Powdery mildews are characterized by the appearance of spots or patches of a white to grayish, powdery, mildewy growth on plant tissues, entire leaves or other organs. Ervsiphe cichoracearum, the powdery mildew of cucurbits is among the most serious parasites, and the most common. The conidia are formed similar to the process described for Ervsiphe graminis by Cole and Samson. Theconidial chains mature basipetally from a short, conidiophore mother-cell at the base of the fertile hypha which arises holoblastically from the conidiophore. During early development it probably elongates by polar-tip growth like a vegetative hypha. A septum forms just above the conidiophore apex. Additional septa develop in acropetal succession. However, the conidia of E. cichoracearum are more doliform than condia from E. graminis. The purpose of these investigations was to use scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to demonstrate the nature of hyphal growth and conidial formation of E. cichoracearum on field-grown squash leaves.

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Localization of acid phosphatases in root cap of rice plant

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100085423 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 49 ◽

pp. 224-225

Author(s):

Y. R. Chen ◽

Y. F. Huang ◽

W. S. Chen

Keyword(s):

Rice Plant ◽

Developmental Stages ◽

Uranyl Acetate ◽

Root Cap ◽

Plant Tissues ◽

Acid Phosphatases ◽

Root Tips ◽

Buffer Solution ◽

Cacodylate Buffer ◽

Ethanol Series

Acid phosphatases are widely distributed in different tisssues of various plants. Studies on subcellular localization of acid phosphatases show they might be present in cell wall, plasma lemma, mitochondria, plastid, vacuole and nucleus. However, their localization in rice cell varies with developmental stages of cells and plant tissues. In present study, acid phosphatases occurring in root cap are examined.Sliced root tips of ten-day-old rice(Oryza sativa) seedlings were fixed in 0.1M cacodylate buffer containing 2.5% glutaraldehyde for 2h, washed overnight in same buffer solution, incubated in Gomori's solution at 37° C for 90min, post-fixed in OsO4, dehydrated in ethanol series and finally embeded in Spurr's resin. Sections were doubly stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate, and observed under Hitachi H-600 at 75 KV.

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Cryosectioning plant roots prepared by high-pressure freezing

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100127748 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 45 ◽

pp. 662-663

Author(s):

R.E. Crang ◽

M. Mueller ◽

K. Zierold

Keyword(s):

High Pressure ◽

Cell Walls ◽

Plant Tissues ◽

Ice Crystal ◽

High Pressure Freezing ◽

Vitreous State ◽

Radial Depth ◽

Irregular Topography ◽

Considerable Depth ◽

Conventional Freezing

Obtaining frozen-hydrated sections of plant tissues for electron microscopy and microanalysis has been considered difficult, if not impossible, due primarily to the considerable depth of effective freezing in the tissues which would be required. The greatest depth of vitreous freezing is generally considered to be only 15-20 μm in animal specimens. Plant cells are often much larger in diameter and, if several cells are required to be intact, ice crystal damage can be expected to be so severe as to prevent successful cryoultramicrotomy. The very nature of cell walls, intercellular air spaces, irregular topography, and large vacuoles often make it impractical to use immersion, metal-mirror, or jet freezing techniques for botanical material.However, it has been proposed that high-pressure freezing (HPF) may offer an alternative to the more conventional freezing techniques, inasmuch as non-cryoprotected specimens may be frozen in a vitreous, or near-vitreous state, to a radial depth of at least 0.5 mm.

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The role of silicon in forages: A quantitative X-Ray study

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100126871 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 45 ◽

pp. 416-417

Author(s):

Janet H. Woodward ◽

D. E. Akin

Keyword(s):

Sodium Acetate ◽

Dry Matter ◽

Acetate Buffer ◽

Plant Tissues ◽

Sodium Acetate Buffer ◽

X Ray ◽

Dry Matter Digestibility ◽

Percent Composition

Silicon (Si) is distributed throughout plant tissues, but its role in forages has not been clarified. Although Si has been suggested as an antiquality factor which limits the digestibility of structural carbohydrates, other research indicates that its presence in plants does not affect digestibility. We employed x-ray microanalysis to evaluate Si as an antiquality factor at specific sites of two cultivars of bermuda grass (Cynodon dactvlon (L.) Pers.). “Coastal” and “Tifton-78” were chosen for this study because previous work in our lab has shown that, although these two grasses are similar ultrastructurally, they differ in in vitro dry matter digestibility and in percent composition of Si.Two millimeter leaf sections of Tifton-7 8 (Tift-7 8) and Coastal (CBG) were incubated for 72 hr in 2.5% (w/v) cellulase in 0.05 M sodium acetate buffer, pH 5.0. For controls, sections were incubated in the sodium acetate buffer or were not treated.

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