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Floral ontogeny in Astragalus compactus (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae: Galegeae): variable occurrence of bracteoles and variable patterns of sepal initiation

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Abstract

Comparative studies of floral ontogeny represent a growing field that promise to provide new insights on floral evolution. Floral ontogenetic information has been used successfully in Leguminosae for re-examining phylogenetic relationships at different levels. Using epi-illumination light microscopy, we present original ontogenetic data in Astragalus compactus, which was chosen because of its unusual arrangement of inflorescence and variable occurrence of bracteoles on flowers. Based on our results, uncommon ontogeny of the inflorescence led to the arrangement of flowers in four different positions. Variation was observed not only in the presence of bracteoles, but also in the order of sepal initiation in flowers of the same inflorescence. Surprisingly, besides the widely stated unidirectional pattern, bidirectional, sequential and an atypical unreported order were observed. High degree of overlapping between whorls and formation of two types of common primordia also were found. The variable occurrence of bracteoles suggests that the species is in an intermediate state towards fully lacking of bracteoles. We propose that the variability of the sequence of sepal initiation is possibly a consequence of the function of mechanical forces generated by surrounding leaves. Relationships between mechanical force and auxin signalling are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded in part by grants from Research Affairs of the University of Tabriz, whose support is appreciated. We would like to thank professor Peter K. Endress for his extensive and valuable comments and corrections. The authors thank Maryam Aliakbari and Gholamreza Gohari for their assistance in the preparation of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

    Somayeh Naghiloo & Ali Movafeghi

  2. Department of Horticultural Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

    Mohammad Reza Dadpour

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  1. Somayeh Naghiloo
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  2. Mohammad Reza Dadpour
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Correspondence to Somayeh Naghiloo.

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Naghiloo, S., Dadpour, M.R. & Movafeghi, A. Floral ontogeny in Astragalus compactus (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae: Galegeae): variable occurrence of bracteoles and variable patterns of sepal initiation. Planta 235, 793–805 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-011-1538-1

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