Seed Fertilization, Development, and Germination in Hydatellaceae (Nymphaeales): Implications for Endosperm Evolution in Early A
American Journal of Botany 96(9): 1581–1593. 2009. S EED FERTILIZATION, DEVELOPMENT, AND GERMINATION IN HYDATELLACEAE (NYMPHAEALES): IMPLICATIONS FOR ENDOSPERM EVOLUTION IN EARLY ANGIOSPERMS 1 Paula J. Rudall, 2,6 Tilly Eldridge, 2 Julia Tratt, 2 Margaret M. Ramsay, 2 Renee E. Tuckett, 3 Selena Y. Smith, 4,7 Margaret E. Collinson, 4 Margarita V. Remizowa, 5 and Dmitry D. Sokoloff 5 2 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AB, UK; 3 The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; 4 Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, UK; and 5 Department of Higher Plants, Biological Faculty, Moscow State University 119991, Moscow, Russia New data on endosperm development in the early-divergent angiosperm Trithuria (Hydatellaceae) indicate that double fertiliza- tion results in formation of cellularized micropylar and unicellular chalazal domains with contrasting ontogenetic trajectories, as in waterlilies. The micropylar domain ultimately forms the cellular endosperm in the dispersed seed. The chalazal domain forms a single-celled haustorium with a large nucleus; this haustorium ultimately degenerates to form a space in the dispersed seed, simi- lar to the chalazal endosperm haustorium of waterlilies. The endosperm condition in Trithuria and waterlilies resembles the helo- bial condition that characterizes some monocots, but contrasts with Amborella and Illicium , in which most of the mature endosperm is formed from the chalazal domain. The precise location of the primary endosperm nucleus governs the relative sizes of the cha- lazal and micropylar domains, but not their subsequent developmental trajectories. The unusual tissue layer surrounding the bi- lobed cotyledonary sheath in seedlings of some species of Trithuria is a belt of persistent endosperm, comparable with that of some other early-divergent angiosperms with a well-developed perisperm, such as Saururaceae and Piperaceae.
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