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Cellular aspects of the initiation of aposporous outgrowths in ferns

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2011

E. Sheffield
E. Sheffield
Affiliation:
Cryptogamic Botany Laboratories, Department of Botany, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, U.K.
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Synopsis

Low temperature SEM of juvenile leaves of Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn revealed that outgrowths arise from leaf cells as soon as three days after their detachment from the plant. Such outgrowths matured into fully functional gametophytes, so it can be said that the phase change from sporophyte to gametophyte occurred during the three day interval between detachment and outgrowth protrusion. Measurement of the incorporation of tritiated uridine into leaves detached for 0–5 days indicated that RNA levels rise during the first two days of culture and subsequently decline. The significance of this finding is discussed in relation to theories concerning changes in phase, in particular the suggestion that RNA connected with sporophytic growth must be expunged and that concerned with gametophytic growth synthesised during phase change.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences , Volume 86: The Biology of Pteridophytes , 1985 , pp. 45 - 50
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1985

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