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The aquatic carnivorous plant Aldrovanda vesiculosa (Droseraceae) exhibits altered developmental stages in male gametophyte

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Abstract

Aldrovanda vesiculosa (Droseraceae) is a rare aquatic carnivorous plant, distributed in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. Aldrovanda populations can flower prolifically under favourable conditions, but seed set is very limited. We studied the structure of Aldrovanda pollen collected from flowers in different developmental stages (opened and non-opened anthers) from both European and Australian populations to elucidate pollination traits and the basis of poor seed set on the basis of microscopic observation of pollen and anther structure. Microscopic analyses of Aldrovanda pollen showed that this plant has pollen arranged in tetrads like other species in the Droseraceae family. In hydrated pollen, cytoplasmic protrusions originate from pores located along the equatorial wall of monads, and can develop into pollen tubes. Interestingly, pollen development from microspores occurs in open anthers, suggesting a delay of the developmental stages. In addition, pollen development displays altered sperm cell formation and precocious pollen germination. Precocious germination may characterize recalcitrant pollen, which naturally do not undergo dehydration before anthesis and remain partially hydrated, particularly in aquatic and wetland plants. These alterations of male gametophyte development could affect fertilization processes, and be the reason for the low reproductive capability of Aldrovanda observed both in the field and in cultures. Generally, reduced pollen longevity and very quick germination are considered an adaptation to aquatic or wet environments.

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Acknowledgements

Sincere thanks are due to Mr. Curtis Lubbe (Institute of Botany CAS, Třeboň, Czech Rep.) for English correction. Thanks are also due to two anonymous reviewers for correcting the manuscript and valuable comments.

Funding

This research was partly supported by the Czech Long-term research development project No. RVO 67985939 (for LA).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biosciences, University of Milano, Via Celoria 26, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Elisabetta Onelli, Alessandra Moscatelli, Marco Caccianiga, Michele Pozzi & Nadia Stroppa

  2. “Città Studi” Botanical Garden, Department of Biosciences, University of Milano, Via Celoria 26, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Mario Beretta & Marco Caccianiga

  3. Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Dukelská 135, CZ-379 82, Třeboň, Czech Republic

    Lubomír Adamec

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  1. Elisabetta Onelli
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Correspondence to Lubomír Adamec.

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Onelli, E., Beretta, M., Moscatelli, A. et al. The aquatic carnivorous plant Aldrovanda vesiculosa (Droseraceae) exhibits altered developmental stages in male gametophyte. Protoplasma 258, 71–85 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-020-01553-6

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