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Pollen wall ultrastructure of the genus Adansonia L. species

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Abstract

The genus Adansonia (baobabs, Malvaceae) includes nine tropical species grouped in the Brevitubae, Longitubae and Adansonia sections. The ultrastructure of pollen from eight species of baobabs was studied using transmission electron microscopy. The pollen grains correspond to 3-colporate and 4-colporate types. The ectexine is formed by a perforate tectum with isolated spinules. An important distinguishing feature between the Brevitubae section and the Longitubae and Adansonia sections was observed in the infratectum. The apertural region was similar in all the species studied here. However, the most unusual structure was observed in the apertural margins where the ectexine consisted of a thick lamellate annulus and the endexine had a cracked appearance; the intine was composed of a well-developed oncus under the endopore with unusual fibrillar structures and the outer layer had a remarkable structure consisting of columns. Despite the few differences observed in the structure of the pollen wall within the genus, an original arrangement of the structure found in the aperture of the Adansonia pollen grains studied provides additional information about the new types of apertural structures. This type of sporoderm adds to our knowledge of the diversity of angiosperm pollen. Moreover, this apertural structure is probably an adaptation that occurs during the formation of the pollen tube and of harmomegathy.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Pat Lowe for the collection of pollen sample of A. gregorii in Australia, to the Centre de Ressources en Imagerie Cellulaire (CRIC) Montpellier assistance with the SEM observation and to the Parc Cíentific de Barcelona (PCB) for preparation of the material for TEM. We also thank Karen Newby and Daphne Goodfellow for their careful revision of our English, and Cecile Fovet-Rabot for her support. This work received financial support from the International Foundation for Sciences (IFS) and Fondation pour la Recherche sur la Biodivesrité (FRB).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de Biologie et Ecologie végétales, Université d’Antananarivo, BP 906, 101, Antananarivo, Madagascar

    Elysée N. Rasoamanana, Onja Razanamaro, Perle Ramavovololona & Ralalaharisoa Z. Ramamonjisoa

  2. CIRAD, UMR AGAP, 34398, Montpellier Cedex 5, France

    Jean Luc Verdeil

  3. CIRAD, DGDRS-DRE, BP 853, 101, Antananarivo, Madagascar

    Elysée N. Rasoamanana, Onja Razanamaro & Pascal Danthu

  4. CIRAD, DGDRS-DRE, 34398, Montpellier Cedex 5, France

    Pascal Danthu

  5. University of Barcelona, Faculty of Pharmacy, 08028, Barcelona, Spain

    Maria Suárez-Cervera

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  1. Elysée N. Rasoamanana
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  2. Onja Razanamaro
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Correspondence to Elysée N. Rasoamanana.

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Rasoamanana, E.N., Razanamaro, O., Ramavovololona, P. et al. Pollen wall ultrastructure of the genus Adansonia L. species. Plant Syst Evol 301, 541–554 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-014-1091-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-014-1091-z

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