Successive microsporogenesis affects pollen aperture pattern in the tam mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The tam (tardy asynchronous meiosis) mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana, which exhibits a modified cytokinesis with a switch from simultaneous to successive cytokinesis, was used to perform a direct test of the implication of cytokinesis in aperture-pattern ontogeny of angiosperm pollen grains. The aperture pattern corresponds to the number and arrangement of apertures (areas of the pollen wall permitting pollen tube germination) on the surface of the pollen grain. METHODS: A comparative analysis of meiosis and aperture distribution was performed in two mutant strains of arabidopsis: quartet and quartet-tam. KEY RESULTS: While the number of apertures is not affected in the quartet-tam mutant, the arrangement of the three apertures is modified compared with the quartet, resulting in a different aperture pattern. CONCLUSIONS: These results directly demonstrate the relationship between the type of sporocytic cytokinesis and pollen aperture-pattern ontogeny.

Differential patterns of morphological and molecular hybridization between Fraxinus excelsior L. and Fraxinus angustifolia Vahl (Oleaceae) in eastern and western France.

We examined large-scale patterns of morphology, genetic structure and ecological correlates of Fraxinus excelsior and the closely related species Fraxinus angustifolia in France, in order to determine the degree of hybridization between them. We sampled 24 populations in two putative hybrid zones (Loire and Saône), and five control populations of each species. We measured foliar characteristics of adult trees and used five nuclear microsatellites as molecular markers. Canonical discriminant analysis indicated that the two species differ in morphology, but that intermediate types are common in the Loire region but less frequent in the Saône region. Bayesian population assignment identified one F. angustifolia and two F. excelsior gene pools. Most Loire individuals clustered genetically with the F. angustifolia gene pool. In contrast, the Saône region presented individuals belonging mostly to F. excelsior pools, although the F. angustifolia type was frequent in certain populations. The lowest F(ST) values were found between the Loire and F. angustifolia controls that also exhibited no significant isolation by distance. The proportion of the F. angustifolia gene pool in each locality was negatively correlated with winter temperatures, suggesting that a cold climate may be limiting. Hybridization is probably favoured by the intermediate climatic conditions in the Loire region that allow both species to occur, but is somewhat hampered by the harsher winters in the Saône area where morphological introgression has apparently not yet occurred.

The anther smut disease on Gypsophila repens: a case of parasite sub-optimal performance following a recent host shift?

The study of how parasites adapt to new hosts is of great importance for understanding the emergence of new diseases. Here, we report a study of the anther smut disease on Gypsophila repens (Caryophyllaceae). In contrast to what is usually found on other host species, infected natural populations of G. repens are extremely rare. Moreover, symptoms of diseased plants are incomplete and highly variable over the time. These results suggest that the fungus infecting G. repens is a case of a parasite not capable of exploiting its host optimally. Molecular analyses of Microbotryum violaceum strains infecting this and other Caryophyllaceae revealed that this sub-optimal behaviour probably resulted from a recent host shift from the morphologically similar plant Petrorhagia saxifraga. With its exceptionally low virulence and prevalence, but apparent self-sustainability, the disease on G. repens may thus represent an interesting case study for investigating the conditions leading to adaptation of parasites on new hosts.

Postmeiotic cytokinesis and pollen aperture number determination in eudicots: effect of the cleavage wall number.

In eudicot postmeiotic tetrads, apertures are usually joined in pairs in highly conserved areas. These appear to be located at the last points of contact persisting at the end of cytokinesis between the cytoplasm of the future microspores. In order to investigate the relationship between cytokinesis and aperture formation, aperture distribution within postmeiotic tetrads and the progression of meiosis were studied in Nicotiana tabacum cv. Ambalema. This variety (inbred line) produces about 85% tricolporate pollen and 15% tetracolporate pollen grains. In addition, about 7% of tetrads are composed of four equal-sized microspores and a supernumerary pseudomicrospore of small size and an equal proportion of tetrads exhibit unpaired apertures (these apertures are not joined in pairs within tetrads). Observation of cytokinesis indicates that both unpaired apertures and pseudomicrospores could result from the persistence of late communications between microsporocytes. Observations of tetrads indicate that an increase in the number of elements that are separated during cytokinesis is correlated with an increase in microspore aperture number. All data converge to support the hypothesis that aperture site determination is partly controlled by the number of walls formed to separate the different elements of the tetrad.

Maternal inheritance of a chloroplast microsatellite marker in controlled hybrids between Fraxinus excelsior and Fraxinus angustifolia.

Restriction fragment length polymorphism, polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism and simple sequence repeat (SSR or microsatellites) analyses were performed to detect chloroplast DNA polymorphisms between two ash species, Fraxinus excelsior and F. angustifolia. Only one SSR locus was found to be polymorphic, confirming the very close relatedness of these species. Inheritance of this marker was studied in hybrids obtained from controlled crosses between the two tree species. Results indicated, for the first time in Oleaceae, that chloroplasts are maternally inherited. This chloroplast SSR marker is now used concomitantly with nuclear markers to analyse ash populations in sympatric areas.

Maternal inheritance of chloroplasts in the horsetail Equisetum variegatum (Schleich.).

Reliable data concerning the transmission of chloroplasts in the Pteridophyta are needed both for phylogenies based on chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) sequences and in order to study the evolution of this trait in conjunction with the evolution of the life cycle and the sexual reproduction of land plants. For the first time, this paper describes organelle transmission in the division Sphenophyta, represented by the extant genus Equisetum. By following the fate of polymorphic cpDNA during three intraspecific reciprocal crosses we found no trace of paternal transmission in Equisetum variegatum. The seemingly strict maternal transmission of cpDNA in this species suggests that uniparental chloroplast inheritance preceded the evolution of heterospory in the seed-plant lineage.

Nucleus substitution between Petunia species using gamma ray-induced androgenesis.

The ovaries of two different Petunia species: Petunia hybrida (hort) and Petunia parodii (Steere) were irradiated with τ-ray doses ranging from 50 to 1,000 Gy before pollination. Seed setting occurred after 4 days preculture on a non-sterile medium. Ovaries transformed into fruits were then cultivated aseptically with the following results: (1) τ-ray doses ranging from 200 to 1,000 Gy led to the development of two types of plants: haploids 2n=x=7 and overdiploids 2n>2x=14. (2) The androgenetic origin of haploids was ascertained by using genetic markers. The origin of overdiploids is discussed. (3) Androgenetic haploids contained the chloroplasts of the irradiated female parent. No visible change of cp DNA patterns was observed after irradiation. (4) The four possible androgenetic events were successfully obtained between the two Petunia species: hybrida haploids with hybrida or parodii cytoplasm, and parodii haploids with parodii or hybrida cytoplasm.

Genetic control of embryo production and embryo quality in anther culture of Petunia.

Anther cultures of Petunia lines and hybrids at different levels of heterozygosity were tested under similar conditions with the following results: the yield of androgenetic plants is conditionned in Petunia by two important distinct factors, i.e., yield of embryos and quality of these same embryos. yield of embryos is directly linked to the heterozygosity of the mother plant from which the anthers are harvested. quality of embryos is expressed as the capacity to give viable plants. This character is carried by certain lines and transmitted to their progeny. It does not appear as a monogenic factor. Non triploid plant production remains a rare, non-heritable event in the studied genotypes.