Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Spiral root hairs in Spiranthinae (Cranichideae: Orchidaceae)

  • Published:
Brazilian Journal of Botany Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

(Spiral Root Hairs in Spiranthinae (Cranichideae: Orchidaceae) Root hairs are extensions of root epidermal cells, usually unicellular and unbranched. Root hairs studies usually focus on the relevant physiological and molecular aspects and have become a well-studied model of cellular differentiation and growth. In the Orchidaceae structures such as velamen, as well as exodermal and endodermal thickening, have been considered taxonomically valuable for categorizing different groups. While velamen has been greatly studied and discussed, root hairs are rarely mentioned in the literature or are merely characterized as simple root hairs. In the present study, we characterize morphologically spiral root hairs in a broad sample species of Spiranthinae. We analyzed roots from 23 species included in 12 genera from the subtribe Spiranthinae and Prescottia stachyodes (Sw.) Lindl. (Cranichidinae) as an external group, using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Spiral root hairs are a continuation of the velamen and are found among simple root hairs; they differ from the latter in the type of wall rupture displayed. Spiral root hairs occur frequently among the species we analyzed, in both epiphytic as well as terrestrial species. We believe these root hairs help increase the opening (facilitating the entrance of colonizers), improve fluid absorption, and increase adherence to the substrate. The presence of spiral root hairs may also carry taxonomic importance in studies with a broader sample of Orchidoideae.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figs. 1–6

References

  • Benzing DH, ott DW, Friedman WE (1982) Roots of Sobralia macrantha (Orchidaceae): structure and function of the velamen-exodermis complex. Am J Bot 69:608–614

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bukatsch F (1972) Bemerkungen zur doppelfärbung Astrablau safranin. Mikrokosmos 61:255

    Google Scholar 

  • Dressler RL (1990) The orchids, natural history and classification. Cambridge Harvard, University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Dressler RL (1993) Phylogeny and classification of the orchid family. Dioscorides Press, Portland

    Google Scholar 

  • Dycus AM, Knudson L (1957) The roles of the velamen of the aerial roots of orchids. Bot Gaz 119:78–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evert RF (2006) Esau’s plant anatomy, 3rd edn. Wiley, New Jersey

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Fahn A (1990) Plant Anatomy, 4th edn. Pergamon Press, Pergamon

    Google Scholar 

  • Figueroa C, Salazar GA, Zavaleta HA, Engleman EM (2008) Root character evolution and systematics in Cranichidinae, Prescottiinae and Spiranthinae (Orchidaceae, Cranichideae). Ann Bot 10:509–520

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foster AS (1949) Practical plant anatomy. D. van Nostrand Company Inc., Princeton

  • Gahoonia TS, Nielsen NE, Joshi PA, Jahoor A (2001) A root hairless barley mutant for elucidating genetic of root hairs and phosphorus uptake. Plant Soil 235:211–219

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Galway ME, Heckman JW Jr, Schiefelbein JW (1997) Growth and ultrastructure of Arabidopsis root hairs: the rhd3. mutation alters vacuole enlargement and tip growth. Planta 201:209–218

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gilroy S, Jones DL (2000) Through form to function: root hair development and nutrient uptake. Trends Plant Sci 5:56–60

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gutterman Y, Witzium A, Evenari M (1967) Seed dispersal and germination in Blepharis persica (Burm.) Kuntze. Isr J Bot 16:213–234

    Google Scholar 

  • Ishida T, Kurata T, Okada K, Wada T (2008) A genetic regulatory network in the development of trichomes and root hairs. Annu Rev Plant Biol 59:365–386

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Janczewski E (1885) Organisation dorsiventrale dans les raciness des orchidees-Annales des sciences naturalles. 1834–1937. http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/pdf4/030689300137966. Accessed 2014 Sept 16

  • Johansen DA (1940) Plant microtechnique. nMcGraw-Hill Book Company Inc, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaiser E (1880) Verfahren zur Herstellung einer tadellosen glycerin-gelatine. Bot Zentralb 180:25–26

  • Kippist R (1845) On the existence of spiral cells in the seeds of Acanthaceae. Trans Linn Soc Lond 19:65–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kraus JE, Arduin M (1997) Manual básico de métodos em morfologia vegetal, 1st ed. EDUR, Rio de Janeiro

  • Leitgeb H (1865) Die luftwurzeln der orchideen. 1850–1918. http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/pdf4/030689300137966. Accessed 2014 Sept 12

  • Lersten NR, Curtis JD (1977) Preliminary report of outer wall helices in trichomes of cetain dicots. Can J Bot 55:128–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muthukumar T, Eswaranpillai H, Karthikeyan A, Sathiyadash K, Jaison S, Priyadharsini P, Chongtham I, Muniappan V (2011) Morphology, anatomy and mycorrhizae in subterranean parts of Zeuxine gracilis (Orchidaceae). An de Biol 33:127–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Pitts RJ, Cernac A, Estelle M (1998) Auxin and ethylene promote root hair elongation in Arabidopsis. Plant J 16:553–560

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Porembski S, Barthlott W (1988) Velamen radicum micromorphology and classification of the Orchidaceae. Nord J Bot 8:117–137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pridgeon AM (1982) Diagnostic anatomical characters in the Pleurothallidinae (Orchidaceae). Am J Bot 69:921–938

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pridgeon AM, Stern WL, Benzing DH (1983) Tilosomes in roots of Orchidaceae: morphology and systematic occurrence. Am J Bot 70:1365–1377

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pridgeon AM, Crib PJ, Chase MW (1999) Genera Orchidacearum: general Introduction, Apostasioideae, Cypripedioideae, 1st edn. University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Shefferson RP, Kull T, Tali K (2008) Mycorrhizal interactions of orchids colonizing Estonian mine tailings hills. Am J Bot 95:156–164

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shi H, Zhu JK (2002) A pyridoxal kinase gene, is required for root hair development in Arabidopsis. Plant Physiol 129:585–593

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sieberer BJ, Ketelaar T, Esseling JJ, Emons AMC (2005) Microtubules guide root hair tip growth. New Phytol 167:711–719

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stern WL (2014) Anatomy of the Monocotyledons, vol. X, Orchidaceae. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Stern WL, Carlsward BS (2006) Comparative vegetative anatomy and systematic of the Oncidinae (Maxillarieae, Orchidaceae). Bot J Linn Soc 152:91–107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stern WL, Morris MW, Judd WS, Pridgeon AM, Dressler RL (1993) Comparative vegetative anatomy and systematic of Spiranthoideae (Orchidaceae). Bot J Linn Soc 113:161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yukawa T, Stern WL (2002) Comparative vegetative anatomy and systematics of Cymbidium (Cymbidieae: Orchidaceae). Bot J Linn Soc 138:383–419

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yukawa T, Ogura-Tsujita Y, Shefferson RP, Yokoyama J (2009) Mycorrhizal diversity in Apostasia (Orchidaceae) indicates the origin and evolution of orchid mycorrhiza. Am J Bot 96:1997–2009

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) for funding this project (PNADB 998/2010) and providing financial support for the first author. We thank the Center for Electron Microscopy at UFPR for allowing us to use their equipment, and Jaques Klein for providing us some of the samples.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Botânica/Setor de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Paraná - UFPR, C. Postal 19031, Curitiba, Paraná, 91531-980, Brazil

    Angelita Aparecida Bernal, Eric de Camargo Smidt & Cleusa Bona

Authors
  1. Angelita Aparecida Bernal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Eric de Camargo Smidt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Cleusa Bona
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cleusa Bona.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bernal, A.A., de Camargo Smidt, E. & Bona, C. Spiral root hairs in Spiranthinae (Cranichideae: Orchidaceae). Braz. J. Bot 38, 411–415 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40415-015-0141-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40415-015-0141-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation