Permian ginkgophyte fossils from the Dolomites resemble extant <it>O-ha-tsuki </it>aberrant leaf-like fructifications of <it>Ginkgo biloba </it>L

• Main Authors: Kustatscher Evelyn, Meller Barbara, Fischer Thilo C, Butzmann Rainer
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2010-11-01
• Series: BMC Evolutionary Biology
• Online Access: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/10/337

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Structural elucidation and analysis of fructifications of plants is fundamental for understanding their evolution. In case of <it>Ginkgo biloba</it>, attention was drawn by Fujii in 1896 to aberrant fructifications of <it>Ginkgo biloba </it>whose seeds are attached to leaves, called <it>O-ha-tsuki </it>in Japan. This well-known phenomenon was now interpreted by Fujii as being homologous to ancestral sporophylls. The common fructification of <it>Ginkgo biloba </it>consists of 1-2 (rarely more) ovules on a dichotomously divided stalk, the ovules on top of short stalklets, with collars supporting the ovules. There is essentially no disagreement that either the whole stalk with its stalklets, collars and ovules is homologous to a sporophyll, or, alternatively, just one stalklet, collar and ovule each correspond to a sporophyll. For the transition of an ancestral sporophyll resembling extant <it>O-ha-tsuki </it>aberrant leaves into the common fructification with stalklet/collar/ovule, evolutionary reduction of the leaf lamina of such ancestral sporophylls has to be assumed. Furthermore, such ancestral sporophylls would be expected in the fossil record of ginkgophytes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>From the Upper Permian of the Bletterbach gorge (Dolomites, South Tyrol, Italy) ginkgophyte leaves of the genus <it>Sphenobaiera </it>were discovered. Among several specimens, one shows putatively attached seeds, while other specimens, depending on their state of preservation, show seeds in positions strongly suggesting such attachment. Morphology and results of a cuticular analysis are in agreement with an affiliation of the fossil to the ginkgophytes and the cuticle of the seed is comparable to that of Triassic and Jurassic ones and to those of extant <it>Ginkgo biloba</it>. The <it>Sphenobaiera </it>leaves with putatively attached seeds closely resemble seed-bearing <it>O-ha-tsuki </it>leaves of extant <it>Ginkgo biloba</it>. This leads to the hypothesis that, at least for some groups of ginkgophytes represented by extant <it>Ginkgo biloba</it>, such sporophylls represent the ancestral state of fructifications.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Some evidence is provided for the existence of ancestral laminar ginkgophyte sporophylls. Homology of the newly found fossil ginkgophyte fructifications with the aberrant <it>O-ha-tsuki </it>fructifications of <it>Ginkgo biloba </it>is proposed. This would support the interpretation of the apical part of the common <it>Ginkgo biloba </it>fructification (stalklet/collar/ovule) as a sporophyll with reduced leaf lamina.</p>