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Diversity in meiotic spindle origin and determination of cytokinetic planes in sporogenesis of complex thalloid liverworts (Marchantiopsida)

  • Current Topics in Plant Research
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Abstract

As the earliest divergent land plants, bryophytes (mosses, hornworts, and liverworts) provide insight into the evolution of the unique plant process of sporogenesis by which meiosis results in heavy walled spores. New immunohistochemical data on microtubules and γ-tubulin in four genera of complex thalloid liverworts combined with previously published data on another four genera demonstrate grades in the evolution of spindle organization in meiosis. We have discovered that all recognized forms of microtubule organizing centers (MTOCs) in plant cells (plastid MTOCs, spheroid cytoplasmic MTOCs, polar organizers, and nuclear envelope MTOCs) occur in organization of the meiotic spindle of complex thalloid liverworts. In addition, all aspects of pre-meiotic preparation for quadripartitioning of the sporocyte into a tetrad of spores occur, with the exception of pre-meiotic wall precursors found in certain simple thalloids. The preparation includes morphogenetic plastid migration, cortical bands of microtubules that mark future cytokinetic planes in pre-meiosis, quadrilobing of the cytoplasm during meiotic prophase, and quadripolar microtubule systems that are transformed into functionally bipolar metaphase I spindles. Quadripolar spindle origin is typical of bryophyte sporogenesis even though the MTOCs involved may differ. However, in certain crown taxa of complex thalloids the spindle develops with no traces of quadripolarity and placement of intersporal walls is determined after meiosis, as is typical of higher plants.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr Tetsuya Horio (University of Kansas) for the gift of the G9 antibody, Dr Suzanne Fredericq (University of Louisiana) for help with phylogenetics, and Dr Paul Davison (University of North Alabama) for help with taxonomic identifications and for collections of Blasia pusilla.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Louisiana-Lafayette, Lafayette, LA, 70504-2451, USA

    Roy C. Brown & Betty E. Lemmon

  2. Department of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Hiroshima University, Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, 739-8526, Japan

    Masaki Shimamura

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  1. Roy C. Brown
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  2. Betty E. Lemmon
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  3. Masaki Shimamura
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Correspondence to Roy C. Brown.

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Brown, R.C., Lemmon, B.E. & Shimamura, M. Diversity in meiotic spindle origin and determination of cytokinetic planes in sporogenesis of complex thalloid liverworts (Marchantiopsida). J Plant Res 123, 589–605 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-009-0286-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-009-0286-9

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