Apospory appears to accelerate onset of meiosis and sexual embryo sac formation in sorghum ovules

• Main Authors: Elliott Estella, Jamison Michelle, Carman John G, Dwivedi Krishna K, Naumova Tamara N
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2011-01-01
• Series: BMC Plant Biology
• Online Access: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2229/11/9

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Genetically unreduced (2<it>n</it>) embryo sacs (ES) form in ovules of gametophytic apomicts, the 2<it>n </it>eggs of which develop into embryos parthenogenetically. In many apomicts, 2<it>n </it>ES form precociously during ovule development. Whether meiosis and sexual ES formation also occur precociously in facultative apomicts (capable of apomictic and sexual reproduction) has not been studied. We determined onset timing of meiosis and sexual ES formation for 569 <it>Sorghum bicolor </it>genotypes, many of which produced 2<it>n </it>ES facultatively.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Genotype differences for onset timing of meiosis and sexual ES formation, relative to ovule development, were highly significant. A major source of variation in timing of sexual germline development was presence or absence of apomictic ES, which formed from nucellar cells (apospory) in some genotypes. Genotypes that produced these aposporous ES underwent meiosis and sexual ES formation precociously. Aposporous ES formation was most prevalent in subsp. <it>verticilliflorum </it>and in breeding lines of subsp. <it>bicolor</it>. It was uncommon in land races.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The present study adds meiosis and sexual ES formation to floral induction, apomictic ES formation, and parthenogenesis as processes observed to occur precociously in apomictic plants. The temporally diverse nature of these events suggests that an epigenetic memory of the plants' apomixis status exists throughout its life cycle, which triggers, during multiple life cycle phases, temporally distinct processes that accelerate reproduction.</p>