POSTGENITAL CARPEL FUSION IN CATHARANTHUS ROSEUS (APOCYNACEAE). I. LIGHT AND SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPIC STUDY OF GYNOECIAL ONTOGENY

The detailed ontogeny of postgenital fusions within the gynoecium of Catharanthus roseus was investigated. The basal margins of the young carpel primordia infold and fuse together to seal shut the loculi. Independently, the opposing distal tips of the two carpels also unite, with the fusion region subsequently developing into the stigma, style, and a small distal region of the compound ovary. The basal ovary regions of the two opposing carpels remain unfused, thus leaving the tip fusion spatially restricted. In the region of contact, cells with distinctively epidermal features progressively lose their epidermal character after their participation in the fusion. In the fused stigma these former epidermal cells redifferentiate into transmitting and secretory tissues; in the fused style these cells undergo a tremendous expansion in length while forming stylar transmitting tissue; but in the compound ovary region corresponding cells experience little expansion or redifferentiation. It is concluded that the loss of epidermal features or the occurrence of periclinal cell divisions in the epidermis is a definitive indication that cells have fused postgenitally. However, studies with the transmission electron microscope are necessary to detect the first indications of a postgenital fusion. The compound ovary region within the gynoecium of C. roseus is a tissue appropriate for a high resolution ultrastructural study of the cytological events accompanying postgential tissue fusion because the fusion occurs quickly and little subsequent cell expansion takes place within this region.