Morphometric analysis of caryopsis in some species of Eragrostis (Poaceae)

Abstract

Seed exomorphic characters of nine different species of Eragrostis were investigated by Light and Scanning electron microscopy. In the present study the micro-morphological characteristic features of caryopses such as shape, dimension, colour, epidermal cell surface structure and features of anticlinal and periclinal walls were examined. Light microscopy revealed that most of the studied caryopses varied in shape from obloid to ovoid. The caryopses in most of the species of Eragrostis are sticky in nature due to the presence of surface slime cells, which makes them appear shiny and transparent. This morphological feature was able to be observed under SEM but not light microscopy. The nine different species could be differentiated on the basis of shape and position of the hilum and embryo.

Taxonomic significance of caryopsis in subfamily Panicoideae (Poaceae) using scanning electron microscopy and light microscopy

“…Caryopsis morphology can be regarded as an important taxonomic tool in studying various ranks of Poaceae (Gandhi et al, ). In present study, caryopsis of subfamily Panicoideae was investigated qualitatively and quantitatively to show similarities and differences in the features studied.…”

“…Liu, Zhao, Hao, Hu, and Liu () explored the caryopsis morphology of Chloridoideae. In recent past, caryopsis morphology of nine species of genus Eragrostis from India was studied by Gandhi, Albert, and Pandya (). Vivek, Murthy, Gnanasekaran, Kabeer, and Nair () have described the caryopsis morphology of genus Eragrostis by utilizing SEM.…”

Caryopsis micromorphological survey of Sorghum (Poaceae)—Taxonomic implications

“…Caryopsis micromorphology, as a reliable evidence for assessing phylogenetic relationship, has previously been recognized in Poaceae (Bogdan, 1966;Barthlott, 1981;Wang et al, 1986;Liu et al, 2005;Jiang et al, 2011;Gandhi et al, 2013;Zhang et al, 2014). For example, seven caryopsis subtypes for gramineous species were shown to correspond to seven subfamilies in China (Wang et al, 1986).…”

“…In another example, the caryopsis ventral face and embryo shapes were valuable systematic characters for recognizing three suprageneric groups in the subfamily Chloridoideae (Liu et al, 2005). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was shown to be an effective means to investigate caryopsis micromorphology at the familial (Jordan et al, 1983;Wang et al, 1986), tribal (Terrell and Peterson, 1993), generic (Jordan et al, 1985;Jiang et al, 2011;Zhang et al, 2014) and specific (Gandhi et al, 2013) levels in Poaceae. However, there is no detailed study on the caryopsis micromorphology of Sorghum except for the cultivated sorghum, Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench (Waniska and Rooney, 2000;Stenhouse et al, 2007).…”

Detailed macro and micromorphology of grasses caryopsis using scanning electron and light microscopy

“…But still requires more extensive studies from both taxonomic and ecological aspects. Caryopsis micromorphological using stereoscopic and scanning electron microscope has been reported as an effective means at different taxonomic levels (Gandhi, Albert, & Pandya, 2013; Jiang, Peterson, & Liu, 2011; Jordan, Jordan, & Jordan, 1983; Khan, Abidin, et al, 2017; Khan, Abidin, et al, 2019; Khan, Kiliç, et al, 2019; Khan, Ullah, Khan, Khan, & Rashid, 2017; Terrell & Peterson, 1993; Wang, Guo, & Li, 1986; Zhang, Hu, Liu, & Liu, 2014). Dhara, Susy, and Neeta (2013) used morphometric analysis of Eragrostis caryopsis for its taxonomic implication.…”