Pollen Morphological Characteristics of 46 Germplasm Resources of <i>Polygonatum</i> and Its Taxonomic Implications

To elucidate the morphological diversity and genetic characteristics of the pollen of <i>Polygonatum</i> species, this study utilized a total of 46 samples encompassing six species and one variety of <i>Polygonatum</i>. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was employed to exami...

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Main Authors: Mingyue Ding, Qian Xie, Lai Jiang, Lingling Liu, Wenbao Luo, Hailan Su, Qingxi Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-12-01
Series:Plants
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/13/24/3509
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Summary:To elucidate the morphological diversity and genetic characteristics of the pollen of <i>Polygonatum</i> species, this study utilized a total of 46 samples encompassing six species and one variety of <i>Polygonatum</i>. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was employed to examine the morphological traits of the pollen and to analyze the evolutionary patterns and genetic relationships among <i>Polygonatum</i> species. The results indicate that the pollen grains of the 46 <i>Polygonatum</i> germplasm are uniformly characterized as monads, heteropolar, bilaterally symmetrical, atreme, and possess a mono-sulcus. They were peroblate (P/E-ratio = 0.36–0.42) in shape and medium to large (P = 18.17–27.15 μm, E = 44.11–67.07 μm) in size. And there are four types of exine ornamentation: reticulate, reticulate–perforate, reticulate–rugulate, and reticulate–verrucate. The 46 germplasm resources were classified into four clusters based on the results of a pollen morphology clustering analysis: <i>P. cyrtonema</i> and <i>P. macropodum</i> were grouped into cluster I, <i>P. filipes</i> and <i>P. odoratum</i> into cluster II, <i>P. kingianum</i> and <i>P. kingianum</i> var. <i>grandifolium</i> into cluster III, and <i>P. alternicirrhosum</i> was classified as cluster IV, standing alone. This study tentatively suggests that pollen morphology, particularly pollen size and exine ornamentation, can serve as a valuable reference for the classification, genetic relationship, and evolutionary patterns of the genus <i>Polygonatum.</i>
ISSN:2223-7747