Abstract
BackgroundThe plant body in duckweed species has undergone reduction and simplification from the ancient Spirodela species towards more derived Wolffia species. Among the five duckweed genera, Wolffia members are rootless and represent the smallest and most reduced species. A better understanding of Wolffia frond architecture is necessary to fully explore duckweed evolution.ResultsWe conducted a comprehensive study of the morphology and anatomy of Wolffia globosa, the only Wolffia species in China. We first used X-ray microtomography imaging to reveal the three-dimensional and internal structure of the W. globosa frond. This showed that new fronds rapidly budded from the hollow reproductive pocket of the mother fronds and that several generations at various developmental stages could coexist in a single W. globosa frond. Using light microscopy, we observed that the meristem area of the W. globosa frond was located at the base of the reproductive pocket and composed of undifferentiated cells that continued to produce new buds. A single epidermal layer surrounded the W. globosa frond, and the mesophyll cells varied from small and dense palisade-like parenchyma cells to large, vacuolated cells from the ventral to the dorsal part. Furthermore, W. globosa fronds contained all the same organelles as other angiosperms; the most prominent organelles were chloroplasts with abundant starch grains.ConclusionsOur study revealed that the reproductive strategy of W. globosa plants enables the rapid accumulation of biomass and the wide distribution of this species in various habitats. The reduced body plan and size of Wolffia are consistent with our observation that relatively few cell types are present in these plants. We also propose that W. globosa plants are not only suitable for the study of structural reduction in higher plants, but also an ideal system to explore fundamental developmental processes of higher plants that cannot be addressed using other model plants.
Highlights
The plant body in duckweed species has undergone reduction and simplification from the ancient Spirodela species towards more derived Wolffia species
Our study revealed that the reproductive strategy of W. globosa plants enables the rapid accumulation of biomass and the wide distribution of this species in various habitats
We propose that W. globosa plants are suitable for the study of structural reduction in higher plants, and an ideal system to explore fundamental developmental processes of higher plants that cannot be addressed using other model plants
Summary
The plant body in duckweed species has undergone reduction and simplification from the ancient Spirodela species towards more derived Wolffia species. Among the five duckweed genera, Wolffia members are rootless and represent the smallest and most reduced species. Duckweeds may be valuable feedstock for biofuel production due to their high biomass and starch accumulation [9, 10]. Duckweeds have undergone reduction and simplification of the plant body from the ancient Spirodela species towards the more-derived Wolffia species [11]. Among the five duckweed genera, Wolffia members are rootless and represent the smallest (0.5–1 mm) and mostreduced species; other duckweed species (including Spirodela, Landoltia, and Lemna) produce adventitious roots. We lack knowledge about the mechanisms driving its occurrence within the plant kingdom
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