Original Research
Classification of embryo sacs in the Eragrostis curvula Complex
Submitted: 29 October 1984 | Published: 06 December 1984
About the author(s)
T. B. Vorster, Botanical Research Institute, Department of Agriculture, South AfricaH. Liebenberg, Department of Genetics, University of Pretoria, South Africa
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At each of 17 collecting points between Johannesburg and Brits in the Transvaal, three plants which belong to the Eragrostis curvula Complex were collected and studied. A total o f 3 902 embryo sacs was examined in this sample. Of the embryo sacs examined, 3 306 were apomictic by means of diplospory, whereas 99 were sexual monosporic Polygonum-type embryo sacs. One hundred and nineteen embryo sacs were abnormal or divergent, and 378 were degenerated. There are indications that seasonal climatic fluctuations may be responsible for embryo sacs developing abnormally or degenerating. Simple and multiple correlations confirmed that sexual embryo sacs usually do not develop abnormally or degenerate during the later developmental stages. This finding lends credence to both the system of classification of individual embryo sacs and to the validity of the estimate of the proportion of sexuality of the plants sampled at each sampling point.
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