Pollen Morphology of Parnassia L. （Parnassiaceae） and Its Systematic Implications

The pollen morphology of 28 species of Parnassia L. was investigated with light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The shape of pollen grains in this genus varies from subspheroidal to prolate in equatorial view and is three-lobed circular in the polar view. Pollen grains are usually radially symmetrical, isopolar, tricolporate or syntricolporate, with reticulate sculpture. The pollen characteristics among species are fairly similar to each other. Morphological information regarding the pollen grains shows that Parnassia is a natural genus. Based on exine ornamentation observed under SEM, three types of pollen grains were recognized: (i) type I, with foveolate-reticulate sculpture; (ii) type II, with a finely reticulate sculpture; and (iii) type III, with a coarsely reticulate sculpture. Most sections of this genus have one type of sculpture of pollen morphology, but Sect. Nectarotrilobos has three types of sculpture and Sect.Saxifragastrum has two types of sculpture. All three types of sculpture can be found in Southwest China,with species with the longest (Parnassia delavayi Franch.) and shortest (Parnassiafaberi Oliv.) colpi,implying that Southwest China is the center of diversification of the genus.     

Pollen:ovule ratio and its relationship with other floral traits in Papilionoideae (Leguminosae): an evaluation with Argentine species

The pollen:ovule ratio (P/O) has traditionally been used as a rough estimator of plant breeding systems. It has been shown that plant breeding systems are associated with particular floral traits. In this study, we determined the P/O in 21 Leguminosae species from Argentina and explored relationships between P/O and taxonomic position, flower size, floral rewards, pollen presentation and pollination mechanisms. According to the results, 15 out of the 21 species classified were obligate xenogamous, although some of them have been recorded as facultative xenogamous in previous studies. There was a significant effect of taxonomic position (genus), reward type and pollination mechanism on P/O. Species offering only nectar as a floral reward (which were species with a brush mechanism) had a significantly lower P/O than species offering pollen or pollen and nectar. Species with the brush pollination mechanism had the lowest P/O, while species with valvular and pump mechanism had the highest P/O. However, pollen presentation (primary and secondary) and flower size did not have a significant effect on P/O. Our results demonstrate that P/O variability is determined by taxonomic position and pollination mechanism in this plant group.     

雪莲的开花生物学特性及其生态适应意义

雪莲(Saussurea involucrata)是一种典型的高山草本植物, 同时也是我国重点保护的珍稀药用植物。该文对雪莲的开花生物学特性及其对高山环境的适应策略进行了观测与分析。主要结果如下: 雪莲不育花序单生于茎生叶的叶腋内, 可育复头状花序生长于茎顶端, 由26 ± 7个头状花序构成, 每个花序的小花数为137 ± 34个。复头状花序外侧为绿色至淡黄色半透明的茎生苞叶所包被, 开花过程中, 白天茎生苞叶内侧温度和湿度明显高于外侧的温度和湿度, 最大温差达7.2 ℃, 最大相对湿度差达54.2%, 可为苞叶内侧花序中小花的传粉和受精以及胚和种子的发育提供良好的微环境。不同年份间雪莲的开花物候差异不显著(p > 0.05), 群体花期为65-75天, 单株花期为45-55天, 盛花期持续时间约35天, 平均每株每天开花数为201个, 属于集中开花模式, 有利于吸引传粉者。单花开放持续时间为4-6天, 小花泌蜜持续时间为3天, 其泌蜜量与糖浓度于每天 12:00时达到最高值, 但随着开花的持续, 日泌蜜量逐渐增加, 而糖浓度逐渐减少。雪莲花期浓郁的气味、聚合成复头状的可育花序及其紫色小花与充足的泌蜜量, 增加了对传粉者的吸引力。雪莲开花过程中存在的雌雄异位、雄性先熟以及被动式花粉次级展现现象, 减少了自花授粉的可能性。自然条件下, 其头状花序的结籽数和结籽率分别为126.0 ± 10.5粒和91.7% ± 4.2%, 单株结籽数为3 326.4 ± 28.7, 表明雪莲在高山极端环境中能顺利地完成有性生殖过程。     

16S rRNA二级结构的研究进展及其在系统分类中的应用

16S rRNA作为研究系统进化的生物大分子极受重视,是系统分类中必不可少的一个指标。然而,在进行系统发育分析时通常的序列联配方法有明显的局限性,即无法摆脱一级结构的束缚。20世纪80年代以来,一些研究者把目光投向了16S rRNA二级结构的分析研究,并且已经取得了相当不错的进展。研究表明,16S rRNA二级结构可能作为一个新的分类指标,成为系统分类的一个重要补充。     

Pollen grains: Why so many?

My objective is the examination of selective forces that affect pollen number. Relationships among other floral traits of animalpollinated plants, including pollen size, stigma area and depth, and the pollen-bearing area of the pollinator may affect pollen number and also provide a model to examine how change in one trait may elicit change in other traits. The model provides a conceptual framework for appreciating intra- and inter-specific differences in these traits. An equivalent model is presented for wind-pollinated plants. For these plants the distance between putative mates may be the most important factor affecting pollen number. I briefly consider how many pollen grains must reach a stigma to assure fruit set. I use pollen-ovule ratios (P/Os) to examine how breeding system, sexual system, pollen vector, and dispersal unit influence pollen grain number. I also compare the P/Os of plants with primary and secondary pollen presentation and those that provide only pollen as a reward with those that provide nectar as part or all of the reward. There is a substantial decrease in P/O from xenogamy to facultative xenogamy to autogamy. Relative to homoecious species the P/Os of species with most other sexual systems are higher. This suggests that there is a cost associated with changes in sexual system. The P/Os of wind-pollinated plants are substantially higher than those of animal-pollinated plants, and the available data suggest there is little difference in the pollination efficiency of the various animal vectors. The P/Os of plants whose pollen is dispersed in tetrads, polyads, or pollinia are substantially lower than those of species whose pollen is dispersed as monads. There was no difference in the P/Os of plants with primary and secondary pollen presentation. The P/Os of plants that provide only pollen as a reward were higher than those that provide nectar as a reward. All of these conclusions merit additional testing as they are based on samples that are relatively small and/or systematically biased.     

Étude des réactions croisées entre les lectines de légumineuses: In systématique et phylogénétique

Seed extracts from 56 legume species were examined for immunological relatedness using 11 different lectin antisera. The immunological cross-reactions observed indicate that only lectins from species belonging to the tribe Vicieae share common antigenic determinants and are evolutionary closely related. These results suggest that the immunochemical study of the Vicieae lectins may provide a powerful tool for determining the systematic and phylogenetic relationships within the tribe.     

A unique euplotid ciliate, Gastrocirrhus (Protozoa, Ciliophora): assessment of its phylogenetic position inferred from the small subunit rRNA gene sequence

ABSTRACT. The morphologically unique genus Gastrocirrhus has been considered a distinct but systematically uncertain euplotid due to the absence of both morphogenetic and molecular information. Based on the small subunit rRNA gene sequence, the phylogenetic position of Gastrocirrhus monilifer Ozaki & Yagui, 1942 was re-addressed using multiple algorithms (neighbor-joining, maximum parsimony, least-squares, and Bayesian inference methods). Results indicate that: (1) all phylogenetic trees using different methods are nearly identical in topology, placing G. monilifer closest to Euplotidium arenarium ; (2) Gastrocirrhus and Euplotidium form a monophyletic group, namely the family Gastrocirrhidae, and appear to be intermediate taxa bridging the evolution of the Diophrys-Uronychia and Euplotes- complexes (i.e. Euplotes, Certesia , and Aspidisca ); (3) the order Euplotida is a paraphyletic group composed of three deeply diverged clades ( Euplotes–Certesia–Aspidisca – Gastrocirrhus–Euplotidium ; Uronychia – Diophrys ; and Prodiscocephalus ); (4) together with Prodiscocephalus , the Diophrys-Uronychia complex forms a group at the suborder level and is placed at the root of the order Euplotida, and (5) results from molecular analyses conspicuously challenge the conclusions deduced from morphological as well as morphogenetical investigations—the characteristics traditionally used to define the euplotid taxa at the generic level and/or above may not be uniformly reliable.     

含笑属(木兰科)植物花粉形态及其系统学意义

利用扫描电子显微镜对含笑属12个分类群的花粉形态进行了观察和研究。花粉粒椭圆形,两侧对称,异极,具远极单萌发沟,中等大小;形成一较为自然的分类群。虽然花粉粒的大小和表面雕纹不同种间具有一定的差异,但不足以为现有的属下分类系统提供足够的证据。