Effects of Safflower Sterility Genes on the Inflorescence and Pollen Grains

1994 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 325 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Carapetian

Three interacting, unlinked, nuclear genes are reported to control the inheritance of male-female sterility in safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.). In a cross between US-10 cultivar (genotype S(1)S(1)s(2)s(2)s(3)s(3)) and a geographically distant Indian line 57-147 (genotype s(1)s(1)S(2)S(2)S(3)S(3)), F-2 plants segregated 57 fertile:7 sterile. Sterile genotypes set no seed under natural conditions. This study reports the effects of sterility genes on the inflorescence and pollen grains. Floret elongation was limited in sterile plants at bloom. Lengths of florets in the sterile individuals showed a 17% and a 40% reduction one day before and on the day of anthesis, respectively. This resulted in a conspicuous pinched appearance of the capitula. Lack of seed development in sterile plants hindered the expansion of capitula and prevented the dried florets from lying against the imbricate bracts as in normal fertile plants. The percentage pollen stainability was 96.1 in US-10, 87.5 in 57-147, 91.3 in the F-1, 90.5 in fertile F-2, and 1.4 in sterile F-2 plants. However, none of the stainable pollen grains of the sterile F-2 plants was viable. The mean pollen diameter was 53.2 in US-10, 56.3 in 57-147, 53.9 in the F-1, 58.1 in fertile F-2, and 35.8 mu m in sterile F-2 plants. Sterile plants exhibited a greater variation in pollen diameter than the fertile plants. Light and scanning electron microscopy observations revealed the absence of normally sculptured and tricolpate pollen from the sterile plants. The results suggest that the sterility genes have their effects primarily on reproductive organs, but do not hinder vegetative development and growth of sterile plants before they bloom.

1977 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jirair Carapetian ◽  
Earlene A. Rupert

Microsporogenesis was studied in the male-female sterile F2 segregants of a safflower cross involving 'US-10' and '57-147' cuitivars and was compared with normal meiosis in the F1 hybrids. In the microspores of the sterile plants contraction of chromosomes during prophase was irregular and patchy and they did not stain well with acetocarmine. At MI, most of the 24 chromosomes tended to stick to each other at random resulting in the formation of several chromosome bridges during AI. Multipolar meiotic divisions were observed. The second division was rarely seen. Apparently, meiosis ends with a multipolar AI separation and with the formation of 3- to 9-celled "quartets" which later develop nonfunctional pollen grains. The onset of meiosis in sterile plants was delayed and microsporogenesis subsequently progressed at a much slower rate than in fertile F1 hybrids. Three interacting nuclear genes appear to cause male-female sterility and affect microsporogenesis by interfering with some component essential for normal meiosis.


2015 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 973-980 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Macukanovic-Jocic ◽  
Snezana Jaric ◽  
Mica Mladenovic

The pollen morphology of Dianthus petraeus (Caryophyllaceae), which is endemic to the Balkans, has been examined by both light and scanning electron microscopy in order to provide taxonomically valuable characters that might be used in the classification of the Caryophyllaceae, as well as to contribute to the pollen atlas of Serbian apiflora. The pollen grains of D. petraeus are radially symmetrical, apolar, spheroidal and medium-sized. The mean of the pollen diameter is 45.5?1.4 ?m. The sculpturing pattern of exine is microechinate-microperforate, and the tectum is covered with minute echini averaging 0.8?0.1 ?m in length, more or less evenly distributed between the perforations. The microechini average number per sample area of 5 ?m x 5 ?m is 3.2?0.6. In view of the number, position and type of the apertures, the grains are polypantoporate, with about 13 operculate pores, averaging 6.4?0.7 ?m in diameter. Each operculum is covered with 4-6 conical spinules, which are longer than those on the exine surface. The mean interporal distance is 13.3?1.3 ?m. The obtained palynological results provide information that contribute towards a better understanding of the taxonomic status of D. petraeus.


Weed Science ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 404-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. M. Sosnoskie ◽  
T. M. Webster ◽  
D. Dales ◽  
G. C. Rains ◽  
T. L. Grey ◽  
...  

Palmer amaranth is resistant to several herbicides, including glyphosate, and there is concern that the resistance traits can be transferred between spatially segregated populations via pollen movement. The objective of this study was to describe the physical properties of Palmer amaranth pollen, specifically size, density, and settling velocity (Vs), that influence pollen flight. The mean diameter for Palmer amaranth pollen, as determined by light microscopy, was 31 µm (range of 21 to 38 µm); mean pollen diameter as measured with the use of an electronic particle sizer was 27 µm (range of 21 to 35 µm). The mean density of the solid portion of the pollen grain was 1,435 kg m−3. Accounting for the density of the aqueous fraction, the mean density of a fully hydrated pollen grain was 1,218 kg m−3. By Stokes's law, the estimated mean theoreticalVsfor individual Palmer amaranth pollen grains was 3.4 cm s−1for the range of pollen diameters with a mean of 31 µm and 2.6 cm s−1for the range of pollen diameters with a mean of 27 µm. Results from laboratory studies indicated the majority of single pollen grains settled at a rate of 5.0 cm s−1. The difference between the theoretical and empirical estimates ofVswas likely due to changes in pollen density and shape postanthesis, which are not accounted for using Stokes's law, as well as the presence pollen clusters.


Genetics ◽  
1981 ◽  
Vol 98 (3) ◽  
pp. 565-587
Author(s):  
William R Engels

ABSTRACT In its hypermutable state, an unstable singed allele, snw, mutates in the germline to two other alleleic forms at a total frequency usually between 40 and 60%. In its stable state, the mutation rate of snw is essentially zero. Its state depends on an extrachromosomal condition indistinguishable from a property called cytotype previously studied as a component of hybrid dysgenesis. Of the two known systems of hybrid dysgenesis, denoted P-M and I-R, snw hypermutability is determined by the P-M system and appears to be independent of the I-R system. Cytotype, as defined by the control of snw mutability, is self-reproducing in the cytoplasm or nucleoplasm of the germline through at least two generations. However, it is not entirely autonomous, being ultimately determined by the chromosomes after sufficiently many generations of backcrossing. This combination of chromosomal and extrachromosomal transmission agrees well with previous studies on cytotype. Temperature differences have little effect on the mean mutation rates, but they have a pronounced effect on the intrinsic variance among individuals. The latter effect suggests that high temperatures reduce germ-cell survival during the development of dysgenic flies. Chromosomal rearrangements produce no apparent effects on the behavior of snw. Hypermutability is thought to be caused by the excision or other alteration of an inserted genetic element in the snw gene. This element might be a copy of the "P factor," which is though to be a mobile sequence capable of causing female sterility and other dysgenic traits in the P-M system.


1975 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. R. Mead-Briggs ◽  
J. A. Vaughan

SUMMARYLaboratory studies showed that few rabbit fleas (Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Dale)) transmitted myxomatosis after removal from wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus (L)) that had been infected for fewer than 10–12 days, irrespective of the virulence of the myxoma virus strain involved. Rabbits infected with fully virulent (Grade I) strains died within 10–15 days and few fleas from these hosts became infective; averaging all the samples taken, 12% of the fleas were infective. Also, few fleas acquired infectivity on individual rabbits which recovered from infection with attenuated strains; the mean was 8% infective. Rabbits which died between 17 and 44 days after infection had higher proportions of infective fleas at all sampling times; the mean was 42% infective. Male and female fleas transmitted virus with equal efficiency.For rabbits infected with any of the attenuated virus strains the mean percentage of infective fleas was inversely related to the survival time of the host. Rabbits infected with moderately attenuated strains (Grades IIIA and IIIB) had, on average, the highest proportion of infective fleas; hence such strains have a selective advantage and have become predominant under natural conditions in Britain. The changes that might occur if there is an increase in host resistance to myxomatosis are discussed.


1938 ◽  
Vol 16c (11) ◽  
pp. 445-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. H. Peto

Complete analyses of pollen-mother-cell nuclei at first metaphase, percentage good pollen, pollen diameter and pollen-size distribution were determired for the following poplar species and natural hybrids: Populus grandidentata Michx., P. tremuloides Michx., P. eugenei Simon Louis, P. alba L., P. canescens Sm., natural hybrids of P. alba × P. grandidentata and of P. alba × P. tremuloides.Both of the P. alba and two of the four P. canescens trees examined were triploids (2n = 57) while all other trees examined were diploids (2n = 38). Meiotic observations on the natural hybrids indicated a high degree of homology between the chromosomes of P. alba and the native aspens (P. grandidentata and P. tremuloides), since 17 to 19 bivalents were usually found at first metaphase. In collections from one triploid P. canescens and two diploid alba-grandidentata hybrid trees, failure of a high proportion of the chromosomes to pair was attributed to genetic factors limiting pairing, rather than to non-homology.Pollen characters such as percentage good pollen, pollen diameter, and pollen size distribution were, in most cases, not indicative of the chromosome number or pairing relations at first metaphase. Consequently, triploids could not be detected by pollen observations under the conditions of this experiment. In spite of the lack of correlation between first metaphase and pollen observations, abnormally large pollen grains were observed in collections from several of the trees, and these were considered to contain the diploid or unreduced chromosome complement. The tendency for the poplars to produce unreduced pollen grains probably accounts for the number of triploid trees discovered in Canada and Sweden.


Grana ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Ferrara ◽  
Salvatore Camposeo ◽  
Marino Palasciano ◽  
Angelo Godini

2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cevriye MERT

This study reports on the arrangement of flower buds and structure of floral organs of cornelian cherry (Cornus mas L.) cultivars local to Turkey. The local cultivars were investigated under stereo microscope, light microscope, and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results indicate that each node has two oppositely positioned buds on 1-year-old shoot. Inflorescences resembled the umbel structure that enclosed four (two sets of oppositely oriented) bud scales. The mean flower number varied between 16.3 and 19.9 per cluster among the cultivars. The flowers resembled the hermaphrodite type and one flower was found to have four rudimentary sepals, four petals, four stamens, and one pistil. The stamens were noted to be arranged around the base of the ovary. Each normal anther was observed to have two pollen-producing theca, and each theca was found to have two locules. The number of pollen grains per anther varied between 1380 and 4240 among the genotypes. The pistil was noted to have a deeply hollowed papillate stigmatic surface, and the central part of the style had conducting tissue. The ovarium part of the pistil was found to be surrounded by the nectary tissue, inferior type, and had two atropous ovules. The fruit resembled single-seeded, stone fruit type. This study is the first detailed study on the flower morphology and inflorescences of the cornelian cherry cultivars in Turkey.


2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 27-33
Author(s):  
Olubukola ADEDEJI

The exine morphology of pollen grains of Stachytarpheta indica (Linn.) Vahl, Stachytarpheta cayennensis (Rich.) Vahl and Stachytarpheta angustifolia (Mill.) Vahl is reported. This study was carried out with a light microscope. Pollen grains from fresh anthers were collected and aceolysed. Statistical analysis used to analyse the data collected include cluster analysis, correlation analysis, similarity and distance indices. The pollen grains are spheroidal to oblate to sub-oblate in shape. They are aperturate, both colpate and porate. Tricolpate types occur most frequently, acolpate, monocolpate, bicolpate and tetracolpate types less frequently. The multicolpate and multiporate attributes in all the species indicate that the genus is not primitive in evolutionary history and this species probably, evolved around in the same time. According to the size, the pollen grains of the genus falls into groups permagna (pollen diameter 100-200 μm) and giganta (pollen diameter greater than 200 μm). S. cayennensis and S. anguistifolia belong to group permagna and S. indica only in the group giganta. This separates S. indica from the other two species. The large pollen grain size in the genus clearly supports the fact that the flowers in the genus are more insect-and-bird pollinated than wind pollinated. The similarity and distance indices of the species showed that S. cayennensis and S. angustifolia are the closest. S. indica is closer to S. angustifolia but farther from S. cayennensis.


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