Abstract
Anther and pollen development were studied in Olyra humilis Nees, Sucrea monophylla Soderstr, (Bambusoideae), Axonopus aureus P. Beauv., Paspalum polyphyllum Nees ex Trin. (Panicoideae), Eragrostis solida Nees, and Chloris elata Desv. (Chloridoideae). The objective of this study was to characterise, embryologically, these species of subfamilies which are considered basal, intermediate and derivate, respectively. The species are similar to each other and to other Poaceae. They present the following characters: tetrasporangiate anthers; monocotyledonous-type anther wall development, endothecium showing annular thickenings, secretory tapetum; successive microsporogenesis; isobilateral tetrads; spheroidal, tricellular, monoporate pollen grains with annulus and operculum. Nevertheless, the exine patterns of the species studied are distinct. Olyra humilis and Sucrea monophylla (Bambusoideae) show a granulose pattern, whereas in the other species, it is insular. In addition, Axonopus aureus and Paspalum polyphyllum (Panicoideae) have a compactly insular spinule pattern, while Chloris elata and Eragrostis solida (Chloridoideae) show a sparsely insular spinule pattern. The exine ornamentation may be considered an important feature at the infrafamiliar level.
Highlights
Understanding the embryology of the Poaceae species is of considerable interest due to the economic and ecological importance of this group
Most Poales present monocotyledonous-type anther development (Sajo et al, 2005), secretory tapetum (Furness and Rudall, 1998; 2001), and successive cytokinesis (Furness and Rudall, 2001), features which are shared by other monocots (Furness and Rudall, 2001)
In Eragrostis solida, three stamens were seen in young spikelets, and two were observed in the mature ones
Summary
Understanding the embryology of the Poaceae species is of considerable interest due to the economic and ecological importance of this group. Being one of the largest Angiosperm families, Poaceae comprises 10,000 species and over 700 genera (GPWG, 2001). They are distributed in 13 subfamilies (Sánchez-Ken et al, 2007), with species occurring in all continents and all types of habitats. Poaceae is included in Poales with another 17 families (APG II, 2003), except for Hydatellaceae (Saarela et al, 2007), which accounts for approximately one third of the Monocotyledons (Linder and Rudall, 2005). Bhanwra (1988) reported the presence of only four layers of microsporangium cells in Poaceae, one of the family synapomorphies. Bhanwra (1988) reported the presence of only four layers of microsporangium cells in Poaceae, one of the family synapomorphies. Bhanwra (1988) stated that male embryological traits are common in the family
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