The Inheritance of Apospory in <Emphasis Type="Italic">
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THE INHER,ITANCE OF APOSPOR,¥ IN SCOLOPENDRI UM V ULGARE BY I. ANDEI~SSON-KOTT0 A~D A. E. C4AIICDNEI% Joh~t Innes Horticultu~'al Institution, Me,rton, Londo'Jb (With Plates VI-XII and Two Folders) TIt~ literature on apomixis and apospory is very extensive. Morpho- logical and taxonomic studies, and lately cytological and genetical work, have brought to light various important facts which have not only made possible extensive conclusions but have given rise to speculations in various directions. Among the more general questions which have arisen are those relating to the cause of apomixis and apospory, the relation of polyploidy to apomixis, the relation of polymorphism of plant genera to apomixis and apospory, or generally the part played by apomixis in evolution and species formation, and the alternation of generations. It is impossible here to go into the extensive literature on the subject, it will only be necessary to refer to the recent handbooks by l%osenberg (1930) and Schnarf (1929). It may be mentioned that, in addition to speculations on hybridism in itself as the cause of apomixis, whether on cytological (Winge, 1917) or comparative (Ernst, 1918) grounds, more definite views were expressed on t]zis subject by I~osenberg (1917), Whlkler (1920) and more especially by Hohngren (1919), and by l%osen- berg in his later work (1930); these authors were conscious of the possi- bility of a genetic factor for tendency to apomixis, and have expressed themselves to this effect. More recently Schnarf (1929) expresses himself in the following way: "Die Anlage zur kpomixis diirfte in vielen Fgllen schon vet der Kreuzung vorhanden gewesen sein, and diese dr'trite eher eine ausl6sende als eine unmittelbar hervorrufende gewesen sein." (J-ustafsson (1932) is more definite and considers in more detail the possibilities of the origin of new forms and of apomi~s as a dominant or recessive character in triploid Yfaraxaca and Ar&ie,ra~ia. The frequent loss of Nnctional sexuality or the occurrence of apomixis following on apospory made investigation on the cause of these pheno- mena diflicult. An exception is found in the classical experiments of Ostenfeld (1910), with partly aposporoas and apomictie Hieracia. From 190 I~ff~erita~ce of Apospory i~ Soolopendrium vulgate t;he cross between I~he sexllal Hie,rc~ci't~'m, a,~,~'iculc~ and the partly apo- sporous and. apomictie H. a,~t~'anticte~t'm as d, a polymorl?hic F 1 generation was obtained, the c? parent probably being a heterozygoge. The 291 plants gave rise to true-breeding races or were sterile. More recently, genegical and cytological facts bearing directly on the cause and inheritance of asyndesis phenomena have been furnished by Beadle and M.cCOlintock :for Zea 2l/ia,ys in a preliminary note (1928) and f.urgher reports by Beadle (I.930, 1933). These aut;hors found a l~tlendelian recessive gene for failure of synapsis of t~he meiotic chromosomes. Gowen (1.928) has also given fa,ots which show that l~here is a recessive gene in D,rosophilct which causes aberrane meiotic chromosome beha.viour, and Blakeslee (1928) also mentions a recessive gene in Da,tu~'a which prevents pairing of the chromosomes at reduction.. The same attthor (1930) reports on a peculiar race, the only one in a considerable collec{fion Dom I-Iungary, conta,ining a recessive gene which in the homozygous condition causes a doubling of file chronmsomes. Apparently when the doubling oecm's early in mierosporogenesis, twin nuclei are formed. In. bo~h. single and twin nuclei further doubling may take place, producing nuclei which may contain as many as 96 chromosomes, gkstrand (1932) found a gene for asyndesis of t~wo pairs of chromosomes in Horcleit,'m, and Bergman (1.935 b) in Leo~,todo~'~,, and probably in Hie~'cteiu¢'*~. Several more instances have been found by various authors where h'regularities at meiosis are chromosomally determined. The two events, apospory and apomixis, are not always sufficiently distinguished by writers on problems appertaining to these subjects. This is partly due to the close proximity in the life cycle of the angiosperms of the spore stage, where meiosis usually occurs, and the sexual stage, i.e. development of the egg cell on the 9 side and the generative nucleus on the c? side. In ferns the two sta.ges, the spore stage where meiosis occurs and the sexual stage, viz. developmen~ of egg cells and. spermato- zoi.ds~ are widely separated and thus more amenable to investigation of the processes occm'ring at either stage, and[ of the possible relations between such processes. Anoi~her favourable situation in ferns is the possibility of ohtaining several sporophytes from one gametophyte. The terminology of the processes involved in gamel~ophyte formation without preceding meiosis, and sporophyte formation without preceding fertilisation or fusion of cells, is used differently by different authors. The nomenclature used by l:~osenberg (1930) is probably accepted by most botanists at the present time. In the present paper we shall use t~he terms as defined below: I. ANDE:RSSON-KOTT0 AND A. E. GA]:R,DNER, 191 Apomixis denotes the substitution for sexual propagation, of an asexual form of propagation, without fusion of nuclei or cells, in contra- distinction to amphimixis, viz. propagation by sexual fusion. Apomixis then inclndes the formation of a sporophyte from an egg cell without fertilisation (parthenogenesis), and ghe apomic~ic development of sporo- phytes from any other cell of the gametophyge (apogamy). Apospory denotes gametophyte formation from a somatic cell of the sporophyte (somatic apospory) or from a spore mother cell without preceding reduction (generative apospory, which occurs for example in Lastra, ea strata). Spore formation without reduction has also been termed apomeiosis (l~enner, ]9].6). Apomixis and apogamy should be separated from nucellar embryony and the formation of adventitious embryos, since in the former alterna- tion of generations occurs, whereas the latter cases constitute methods of vegetative reproduction (similar to bulbil formation in ferns) without alternation of generations. In the present paper the term alternation of generations denotes the morphological Mternagion of gametophyte generation with sporophyte generation, as distinct from alternation of nuclear phases. Mo])]~ OF CULTURE The aposporous Scolo~)e'n,(~'riu~n sporophytes in these experiments are of very striking appearance. They are therefore for convenience called "pemdiars" (shortened to Fee. or pees.). Both Knop agar and soil were used as culture media. The former method has been pre~5ously described by Andersson-Kott5 (1923, 1929). In the experiments here referred to, most of the hybrids were obtained by sowing the spores of the female parent (9 P.) on Knop agar in Petri dishes. Gametophytes of these were isolated, each one into a separate Knop agar Petri dish. The crossing of two gamebophytes is facilitated by the fact that antheridia occur early and archegonia later in the de- velopment of the gametophyte. When, after some time, the archegonia were developed and ripe, and it was ascertained that no angheridia were ])resent on the prothallium, the dish was filled with Knop's solution and the smaller d prothMlia, reared for the purpose in a,no~her Petri dish, were introduced and left for some hours in the solution round the _~ pro- thallimn. The solution was then poured away and the (? prothallia removed. The hybrids appeared after some ~ime and were subsequently transferred to soil. The same isolation method was employed for self- fer~ilisation of single galnetophytes. Each gametophyte in this case was 192 Inhe~'~;ta~ce of A2)osl)o~'y in Scolopendrium vulggre kept' on agar and t'here setf-fertilised, and t'he sporophyt'es subsequent,ly I~rallsferred t'o soil. Alt,ernat'ively t'he gamei~ophyt'es, aft'er having been iso]at,ed for some t'ime on agar, were t'ransferred to soil, each one ill a sel?a,ra.t,e l?Ot,, where it, ral?idly increased in size and WaR self-fert'ilised by adding wat,er t'roln above. When it' was desired t~o have descendant's from one l?rot,hallium bot,h t'hrough self-ferl~ilisat,ion and eross-fertilisa, t,ion, t'he prot,hallium in question wan isolat'ed, and when of good size was divided, and the parts again iso]atted. The l?art,s when established were used respectively :for self- and eross-fer~ilisat'ion. The eeehnique of separa, t,ion of 9 and d' pa,rbs on t,he aposporous out,growt'hs of t,he peeuliars, necessary when one wishes to secure d' part's for use in crosses, is dimeultt. This of course does no~ apply t'o t'he gamettophyt,es raised from spores, where t'he early ant'heridial st'age can easily be used an cL The aposporous out,growt,hs of the peenliars have t,herefore most,ly been used an -9- in ~he crosses wi~h normal, t,he hybrids being reeognisable from the beginning, from t,he fact' ttha,t, normal is dtominan~ over peculiar. The peeuliars occasionally obtained a~ t,he same t,ime can safely be assumed t,o have rem~lt'ed from self-fer~ailisat,ion, since peeuliars when selfed are known to give peculiars again. When gameto- phyt, es carrying peculiar (half t,he number of gamegophyt'es arising from Sl?ores from the F 1 from normal x peculiar or reciprocally) are used an d' in crosser wieh normal, it is advisable t,o wai~ until the next' generation to be sure of the hybrid nature of t,he sporophyttes obt'ained, since some normal sporophytes might accident,ally have been obtained from selfing of 6he normal prot,hallimn used an 9; these should breed true, while t,he hybrids should segrega~se for normal/peculiar.