Morphological characterization of domatium development in Callicarpa saccata.
Ann Bot
; 125(3): 521-532, 2020 03 09.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-31768517
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND AIMS:
Domatia are plant structures within which organisms reside. Callicarpa saccata (Lamiaceae) is the sole myrmecophyte, or 'ant plant', that develops foliar (leaf-borne) myrmeco-domatia in this genus. In this work we examined domatium development in C. saccata to understand the developmental processes behind pouch-like domatia.METHODS:
Scanning electron microscopy, sectioning and microcomputed tomography were carried out to compare the leaves of C. saccata with those of the closely related but domatia-less myrmecophyte Callicarpa subaequalis, both under cultivation without ants. KEYRESULTS:
Callicarpa saccata domatia are formed as a result of excess cell proliferation at the blade/petiole junctions of leaf primordia. Blade/petiole junctions are important meristematic sites in simple leaf organogenesis. We also found that the mesophyll tissue of domatia does not clearly differentiate into palisade and spongy layers.CONCLUSIONS:
Rather than curling of the leaf margins, a perturbation of the normal functioning of the blade/petiole junction results in the formation of domatium tissue. Excess cell proliferation warps the shape of the blade and disturbs the development of the proximal-distal axis. This process leads to the generation of distinct structures that facilitate interaction between C. saccata and ants.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Ants
/
Callicarpa
Limits:
Animals
Language:
En
Journal:
Ann Bot
Year:
2020
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country: