Identification and functional analysis of the autofluorescent substance in Limonium bicolor salt glands.

Limonium bicolor is a typical recretohalophyte with salt glands for the secretion of excess salts into the environment. We observed that L. bicolor salt glands showed obvious blue autofluorescence under UV excitation (330-380 nm). The aim of the present study was to identify and clarify a role for this autofluorescent substance in salt secretion. Sudan IV staining showed that the autofluorescent substance was localized in the cuticle of the salt glands. Moreover, the primary autofluorescent substance was identified as ferulic acid after treatment with 0.1 M ammonium hydroxide solution, alkaline and enzymatic hydrolysis. Additional experiments using two mutants exhibiting increased (fii) and decreased (fid) salt gland fluorescence indicated that the fluorescence intensity of salt glands under UV excitation was positively correlated with the content of ferulic acid in the cuticle, strongly suggesting that the primary autofluorescent substance in the salt glands was ferulic acid. Salt gland secretion was determined using leaf discs, and the results showed that the Na(+) secretion rate per single salt gland was also positively correlated with the content of ferulic acid in the cuticle, suggesting that ferulic acid in the cuticle was directly involved in salt secretion of salt gland.

K(+) accumulation in the cytoplasm and nucleus of the salt gland cells of Limonium bicolor accompanies increased rates of salt secretion under NaCl treatment using NanoSIMS.

Recretohalophytes with specialized salt-secreting structures (salt glands) can secrete excess salts from plant, while discriminating between Na(+) and K(+). K(+)/Na(+) ratio plays an important role in plant salt tolerance, but the distribution and role of K(+) in the salt gland cells is poorly understood. In this article, the in situ subcellular localization of K and Na in the salt gland of the recretohalophyte Limonium bicolor Kuntze is described. Samples were prepared by high-pressure freezing (HPF), freeze substitution (FS) and analyzed using NanoSIMS. The salt gland of L. bicolor consists of sixteen cells. Higher signal strength of Na(+) was located in the apoplast of salt gland cells. Compared with control, 200 mM NaCl treatment led to higher signal strength of K(+) and Na(+) in both cytoplasm and nucleus of salt gland cells although K(+)/Na(+) ratio in both cytoplasm and nucleus were slightly reduced by NaCl. Moreover, the rate of Na(+) secretion per salt gland of L. bicolor treated with 200 mM NaCl was five times that of controls. These results suggest that K(+) accumulation both in the cytoplasm and nucleus of salt gland cells under salinity may play an important role in salt secretion, although the exact mechanism is unknown.

Male fertility versus sterility, cytotype, and DNA quantitative variation in seed production in diploid and tetraploid sea lavenders (Limonium sp., Plumbaginaceae) reveal diversity in reproduction modes.

The genus Limonium Miller, a complex taxonomic group, comprises annuals and perennials that can produce sexual and/or asexual seeds (apomixis). In this study, we used diverse cytogenetic and cytometric approaches to analyze male sporogenesis and gametogenesis for characterizing male reproductive output on seed production in Limonium ovalifolium and Limonium multiflorum. We showed here that the first species is mostly composed of diploid cytotypes with 2n = 16 chromosomes and the latter species by tetraploid cytotypes with 2n = 32, 34, 35, 36 chromosomes and had a genome roughly twice as big as the former one. In both species, euploid and aneuploid cytotypes with large metacentric chromosomes having decondensed interstitial sites were found within and among populations, possibly involved in chromosomal reconstructions. L. ovalifolium diploids showed regular meiosis resulting in normal tetrads, while diverse chromosome pairing and segregation irregularities leading to the formation of abnormal meiotic products are found in balanced and non-balanced L. multiflorum tetraploids. Before anther dehiscence, the characteristic unicellular, bicellular, or tricellular pollen grains showing the typical Limonium micro- or macro-reticulate exine ornamentation patterns were observed in L. ovalifolium using scanning electron microscopy. Most of these grains were viable and able to produce pollen tubes in vitro. In both balanced and unbalanced L. multiflorum tetraploids, microspores only developed until the "ring-vacuolate stage" with a collapsed morphology without the typical exine patterns, pointing to a sporophytic defect. These microspores were unviable and therefore never germinated in vitro. L. ovalifolium individuals presented larger pollen grains than those of L. multiflorum, indicating that pollen size and ploidy levels are not correlated in the Limonium system. Cytohistological studies in mature seeds from both species revealed that an embryo and a residual endosperm were present in each seed. Flow cytometric seed screens using such mature seeds showed quantitative variations in seeds ploidy level. It is concluded that male function seems to play an important role in the reproduction modes of Limonium diploids and tetraploids.

Biological effect of radiation-degraded alginate on flower plants in tissue culture.

Alginate with a weight-average molecular mass (Mw) of approx. 9.04 x 10(5) Da was irradiated at 10-200 kGy in 4% (w/v) aqueous solution. The degraded alginate product was used to study its effectiveness as a growth promoter for plants in tissue culture. Alginate irradiated at 75 kGy with an Mw of approx. 1.43 x 10(4) Da had the highest positive effect in the growth of flower plants, namely limonium, lisianthus and chrysanthemum. Treatment of plants with irradiated alginate at concentrations of 30-200 mg/l increased the shoot multiplication rate from 17.5 to 40.5% compared with control. In plantlet culture, 100 mg/l irradiated alginate supplementation enhanced shoot height (9.7-23.2%), root length (9.7-39.4%) and fresh biomass (8.1-19.4%) of chrysanthemum, lisianthus and limonium compared with that of the untreated control. The survival ratios of the transferred flower plantlets treated with irradiated alginate were almost the same as the control value under greenhouse conditions. However, better growth was attained for the treated plantlets.