Abstract
Four populations of Bryum coronatum Schwager (Bryaceae, Bryales), collected from widely separated geographic regions - Sambalpur, Odisha; Lataguri, West Bengal; Gangtok and Changu, Sikkim; were studied with regard to variation in taxonomically significant morphological features as well as their dimension of both gametophytic and sporophytic features. In this study special emphasis has been put on spore dimension and spore ornamentation pattern as revealed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Dimension of taxonomically significant morphological parameters were measured for four populations and were subjected to analysis of variance (One way ANOVA) and Principal component analysis (PCA). ANNOVA results showed significant variation for all features except leaf length and upper leaf cell breadth. PCA results corroborated ANNOVA result only for upper leaf cell breadth. Spore ornamentation as revealed through SEM, is found to be bacculate in all the populations. CCA graph revealed that summer, winter temperature and monsoon rainfall influence leaf size, lamina cell size, capsule size, peristome size and spore size. With the help of above mentioned observations and statistical analysis the morphological variations, due to phenotypic plasticity have been quantified to reach at a meaningful conclusion. Taxonomic significance of spore dimension and wall ornamentation is also discussed.
Highlights
The genus Bryum Hedw. is placed in the family Bryaceae, order Bryales [1]
It was clearly shown by statistical analyses that morphological features of plants from widely disjunct populations confirm the existence of significant variation among populations
The present work has been undertaken with the following objectives – (i) to study morphological variations of four different populations of B. coronatum with regard to gametophytic and sporophytic features including spore diameter, polar axis length, equatorial diameter and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) study of spore ornamentation; (ii) to find out correlation between climatic parameters and morphological variations
Summary
The genus Bryum Hedw. is placed in the family Bryaceae, order Bryales [1]. This genus is widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of India [2, 3]. Gangulee [2] identified the species of Bryum on the basis of length of plant, size of leaf, size of lamina cells, size of capsule urn (the portion from mouth of the capsule to the point of attachment of seta), peristome type and height and spore diameter These parameters are expected to show variations depending upon the geographical regions in which they are occurring and this creates problem in ascertaining the identity of a species. The present work has been undertaken with the following objectives – (i) to study morphological variations of four different populations of B. coronatum (collected from four different widely separated places) with regard to gametophytic and sporophytic features including spore diameter, polar axis length, equatorial diameter and SEM study of spore ornamentation; (ii) to find out correlation between climatic parameters and morphological variations. Note: SEM study of ornamentation of external wall of spore, measuring spore dimension with regard to polar axis and equatorial diameter, quantification of dimensional variation of various features by statistical method and correlating morphological variation with environmental factors are being studied for the first time with regard to Indian species of mosses
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