Revisiting the anatomy of the monocot cambium, a novel meristem

Main conclusion The monocot cambium is semi-storied, and its cells do not undergo rearrangement. Abstract The monocot cambium is a lateral meristem responsible for secondary growth in some monocotyledons of Asparagales. It is an unusual meristem, not homologous with the vascular cambia of gymnosperms and non-monocotyledonous angiosperms. Owing to the limited information available on the characteristics of this meristem, the aim of this study was to survey the structure of the monocot cambium in order to clarify the similarities and dissimilarities of this lateral meristem to the vascular cambium of trees. Using the serial sectioning analysis, we have studied the monocot cambium of three species of arborescent monocotyledons, i.e., Quiver Tree Aloe dichotoma, Dragon Tree Dracaena draco, and Joshua Tree Yucca brevifolia, native to different parts of the world. Data showed that in contrast to the vascular cambium, the monocot cambium is composed of a single type of short initials that vary in shape, and in tangential view display a semi-storied pattern. Furthermore, the cells of the monocot cambium do not undergo rearrangement. The criteria used in identifying monocot cambium initial cell are also discussed.

Green Globular Body (GGB) Induction and Differentiation in the Medicinal fern Drynaria Roosii

Background: The green globular body (GGB) of ferns is a special propagule induced in plant in vitro culture systems. Owing to its high proliferation efficiency, GGB is widely used in the in vitro propagation of important ornamental and medicinal ferns. In addition, propagation using GGB shows great development prospects in the conservation of rare or endangered ferns and the breeding of new fern varieties. However, due to the lack of systematic studies on GGB ontogenesis, the morphogenetic aspects of GGB during induction and differentiation remain unclear.Results: We characterized the response of five types of explants of Drynaria roosii to GGB inductive medium and further investigate morphological and anatomical changes of explants that developed GGBs. We found that the rhizome explants directly produced GGBs through cell proliferation of the shoot apical meristem and lateral meristem. The leaf and petiole explants produced GGBs indirectly through the proliferation of meristematic cells of somatic embryos derived from the epidermal cells of the explants. The root and gametophyte explants failed to produce GGB under our induction conditions. We further investigated the differentiation process of GGB. During GGB differentiation, shoot primordia and leaf primordia differentiate from meristematic cells on the epidermis, and the root primordia develop from an inner meristematic tissue with developing vascular tissue connecting all these primordia, which indicates the involvement of multiple organogenesis processes.Conclusions: Our results suggested that preexisting or reestablished meristematic cells were the direct source of GGB in D. roosii. Somatic embryogenesis and organogenesis were involved in GGB induction and differentiation, respectively. The comparison with other common propagules revealed that GGB in D. roosii was largely different from somatic embryos, callus, and protocorm or protocorm-like bodies.

Gametophyte morphology of Acrostichum aureum and A. danaeifolium (Pteridaceae)

Acrostichum is a pantropical genus and has four species, two of which occur in the Neotropics, A. aureum and A. danaeifolium. In Mexico, A. danaeifolium grows further in land wet soils and is much more common than A. aureum, which is typically found in brackish or saline habitats near the coast, and is restricted to coastal saline mangrove communities. The purpose of this paper was to describe and compare the morphogenesis of the sexual phase of A. aureum and A. danaeifolium for systematic purposes. For this, spores of each species were sown in Petri dishes with agar, previously enriched with sterilized Thompson's medium. To avoid contamination and dehydration, the dishes were kept in transparent plastic bags under laboratory conditions. For the micro-morphological observation with SEM, the gametophyte development phases were fixed in FAA with 0.8 % sucrose for 24 h. Photomicrographs of spores, development stages of gametophytes and young sporophytes were observed with scanning electron microscope Jeol JSM5310-LV. Our results showed that the spores of both species are triletes, globose and positive photoblastic. Germination is Vittaria-type; the germinate filaments are short and uniseriate (5 to 7 cells), and prothallial development is Ceratopteris-type. The adult gametophytes of both species have asymmetrical wings. Adult gametophytes in culture are cordiform-spatulate. Antheridia have a broad basal cell, an annular cell, and an asymmetric opercular cell. Archegonia have short necks and four triangular cells at the mouth of the neck. The first leaf of the sporophyte is lobed, with dichotomous veins and anomocytic stomata. The gemmae are formed in adult gametophytes in both species. The development of the gametophyte of A. aureum, A. danaeifolium and A. speciosum share many similarities such as the development of a lateral meristem, asymmetric nature of the mature prothallus, lack of hairs on the prothallus, and undivided asymmetrical opercular antheridia morphology. The genus Acrostichum is the sister group of Ceratopteris, another genus of aquatic ferns; they differ in the antheridium morphology, Acrostichum has an asymmetric opercular cell and Ceratopteris shows an undivided cap cell, but the notable difference is the sporophyte morphology.

Features of radial growth dynamics of english oak in the conditions of radioactive contamination of forests of Central forest steppe

It is shown that the overall thrusts of processes of xylogeneses of oak in conditions of radioac-tive contamination are consistent with pre-viously established researchers for oak forests of Central forest steppe. Irradiation, mostly with short-lived isotopes of iodine, caused changes in the activity of the lateral meristem of woody plants - cambium. The impact had relatively short time interval and affected mainly xylogeneses of early wood regardless of the age of forming layer of wood.

Auxin regulates lateral meristem activation in developing gametophytes of Ceratopteris richardii

This study investigates the auxin regulation of lateral meristem activation in the gametophytes of the fern Ceratopteris richardii Brongn. Exogenous auxin in the form of α-naphthaleneacetic acid or 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxy-acetic acid repressed the activation of the lateral meristem, and generated a male-like body plan. The auxin antagonist p-chlorophenoxyisobutyric acid reduced activity of both the apical and lateral meristems, and produced a circular-shaped gametophyte. Disrupting auxin transport with 2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid led to a time lag in lateral meristem activation, while disrupting auxin transport with n-1-naphthylphthalamic acid produced several different body plans generated by the formation of a second lateral meristem. These findings suggest auxin mediates the activation of the lateral meristem and regulates lateral meristem function. In addition, auxin transport may be necessary for communication between the lateral meristem and other regions of the developing gametophyte. Auxin also controls the position of rhizoids produced by the gametophyte, and exogenous auxin interferes with the sexual differentiation of the gametophyte. These results are summarized in a model of how auxin regulates lateral meristem activation and meristem activity during gametophyte development in C. richardii.

Immunocytological Analysis of Potato Tuber Periderm and Changes in Pectin and Extensin Epitopes Associated with Periderm Maturation

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) periderm forms a barrier at the surface of the tuber that protects it from infection and dehydration. Immature periderm is susceptible to excoriation (skinning injury), which results in costly storage loses and market quality defects. The periderm consists of three different cell types: phellem (skin), phellogen (cork cambium), and phelloderm (parenchyma-like cells). The phellogen serves as a lateral meristem for the periderm and is characterized by thin radial walls that are labile to fracture while the periderm is immature and the phellogen is actively dividing, thus rendering the tuber susceptible to excoriation. As the periderm matures the phellogen becomes inactive, its cell walls thicken and become resistant to fracture, and thus the tuber becomes resistant to excoriation. Little is known about the changes in cell wall polymers that are associated with tuber periderm maturation and the concurrent development of resistance to excoriation. Various changes in pectins (galacturonans and rhamnogalacturonans) and extensin may be involved in this maturational process. The objectives of this research were to compare immunolabeling of homogalacturonan (HG) epitopes to labeling of rhamnogalacturonan I (RG-I) and extensin epitopes to better understand the depositional patterns of these polymers in periderm cell walls and their involvement in tuber periderm maturation. Immunolabeling with the monoclonal antibodies JIM5 and JIM7 (recognizing a broad range of esterified HG) confirmed that HG epitopes are lacking in phellogen walls of immature periderm, but increased greatly upon maturation of the periderm. Labeling of a (1,4)-β-galactan epitope found in RG-I and recognized by the monoclonal antibody LM5 was abundant in phelloderm cell walls, but sparse in most phellem cell walls. LM5 labeling was very sparse in the walls of meristematically active phellogen cells of immature periderm, but increased dramatically upon periderm maturation. Deposition of a (1,5)-α-l-arabinan epitope found in RG-I and recognized by LM6 was abundant in phelloderm and phellogen cell walls, but was sparse in phellem cell walls. LM6 labeling of phellogen walls did not change upon periderm maturation, indicating that different RG-1 epitopes are regulated independently during maturation of the periderm. Labeling with the monoclonal antibody LM1 for an extensin epitope implied that extensin is lacking in phellem cell walls, but is abundant in phelloderm cell walls. Phellogen cell walls did not label with LM1 in immature periderm, but were abundantly labeled with LM1 in mature periderm. These immunolabeling studies identify pectin and extensin depositions as likely biochemical processes involved in the thickening and related strengthening of phellogen walls upon inactivation of the phellogen layer as a lateral meristem and maturation of the periderm in potato tuber. These results provide unique and new insight into the identities of some of the biological processes that may be targeted in the development of new technologies to enhance resistance to tuber skinning injury for improved harvest, handling and storage properties.