| Abstract Detail
Developmental and Structural Section Bolin, Jay F. [1], Tennakoon, Kushan U. [2], Musselman, Lytton John [1], Maass, Erika [3]. Germination and seedling development of the highly modified root holoparasite Hydnora triceps. Hydnora (Hydnoraceae) is a small genus of root holoparasites native to Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula and Madagascar. The most unusual of the group, the furtive H. triceps, resides and flowers completely underground and exclusively parasitizes Euphorbia dregeana. We present the results of the first successful seed germination for the genus. The permeable seeds of H. triceps required host root exudates of E. dregeana to germinate and did not respond to root exudates from other Euphorbia spp. or control treatments. Anatomical studies (light microscopy and SEM) revealed that seeds of H. triceps have spherical undeveloped embryos in the center of a large endosperm. Germination occurred when a cylindrical mass of tissues originated from the embryo and emerged through the testa to a length of 2-3 mm. ‘Germ tube’ rather than radicle or hypocotyl was used to describe the cylindrical protrusion due to the lack of well defined vascular tissue. This study also addresses inconsistent terminology/interpretations encountered in the literature for seedlings of highly modified holoparasites.
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1 - Old Dominion University, Department of Biological Sciences, Mills Godwin Building, 45th Street, Norfolk, Virginia, 23529-0266, USA
2 - University of Peradeniya, Department of Botany, Peradeniya, 20400, Sri Lanka
3 - University of Namibia, Department of Biology, Private Bag 13301, Windhoek, , Namibia
Keywords:
Hydnora
Parasite
seedling development.
Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: 2-10
Location: 303/Bell Memorial Union
Date: Monday, July 31st, 2006
Time: 11:00 AM
Abstract ID:167 |
