The Morphological Diversity and Evolution of Pollen

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Diversity".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2024 | Viewed by 1398

Special Issue Editor

South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
Interests: flower; pollen; diversity; morphology; structure; development; evolution

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Pollen grains are the male gametophytes of flowering plants. Although they are very simple organisms, they display a wide range of variation in aperture type, pollen wall architecture, pollen unit and grain shape and size, etc. The variation exists at different systematic scales and is observable in fossils to indicate evolutionary trends. Hence, pollen morphological data have proved to be crucial to the resolution of relationships in angiosperms.

This Special Issue aims to collect research articles, short communications, and review articles on recent contributions to the diversity and evolution of pollen morphology.

Prof. Dr. Fengxia Xu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • pollen
  • morphology
  • diversity
  • evolution

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 7421 KiB  
Article
Ontogeny of Different Tetrad Types in the Single Microsporangium of Mitrephora tomentosa (Annonaceae)
by Bingxin Li, Xiu Liu, Mei Cheng, Fengxia Xu and Haimin Liao
Diversity 2023, 15(8), 898; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15080898 - 29 Jul 2023
Viewed by 1037
Abstract
Annonaceae, comprising approximately 107 genera and 2400 species, is the largest family among early-divergent Magnoliales. Previous studies have concentrated on the binding mechanism that holds together the four members of tetrads in Annonaceae. However, the development mechanisms of different tetrad types remain largely [...] Read more.
Annonaceae, comprising approximately 107 genera and 2400 species, is the largest family among early-divergent Magnoliales. Previous studies have concentrated on the binding mechanism that holds together the four members of tetrads in Annonaceae. However, the development mechanisms of different tetrad types remain largely unknown. Mitrephora tomentosa was found to exhibit five permanent tetrad types, with two or three of them existing in the same microsporangium, which is ideal for studying the formation mechanisms of different permanent tetrad pollens in a single microsporangium and explaining the relationship between cytokinesis and pollen tetrad types. The ontogenetic development of the different tetrads in M. tomentosa was investigated using electron microscopy technologies, histochemical staining, and immunocytochemistry. During meiosis, pollen mother cells produce decussate and tetragonal tetrads by successive cytokinesis and produce tetrahedral and rhomboidal tetrads by simultaneous cytokinesis. Bidirectional callose deposition was observed in tetrahedral, tetragonal, rhomboidal, and decussate tetrads. The variations in the process of microsporogenesis randomly accumulate and manifest as different combinations of cytokinesis and callose deposition, leading to the formation of differently shaped tetrads. In mature permanent tetrad pollens, four microspores are connected by both simple cohesion and cytoplasmic channels, which also play an important role in maintaining the synchronization of the tetrad members. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Morphological Diversity and Evolution of Pollen)
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