STUDIES ON THE DIMORPHISM AND TRANSITION OF BISEXUALITY OF HETEROSTYLOUS POLYGONACEAE (여뀌과 이형경식물의 Dinorphism과 Bisexuality의 변화)
- Harn, Chang-Yawl
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- Journal of Plant Biology
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- v.3 no.2
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- pp.6-18
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- 1960
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The present experiments were designed in order to clarify the differences between the long and short styled plants and the transgressive gradition in the degree of dimorphism among the three heterostylous species of the Polygonus, P. japonica, F. esculentum, and P. senticosa, based on investigations regarding the floral structure, ecological and physiological traits, the results of which are summarized as follows: (1) P. japonica, although it exhibits typical dimorphism, has undergone so high a differentiation between long and short styled that its long styled individuals behave as if they were female; and short styled individuals as if male. In long-styled individuals, filament, anther, and pollen grains show signs of degeneration, most of the pollen being abortive. On the other hand, in short styled individuals, the filament, anther, and pollen grains have attained remarkable development; the pollen grians are large and fertile. In short-plant the fertilized flowers readily drop off in every stage of their embryo development. This species has completely lost the self-fertile property, which is characteristic of the non-dimorphic Polygonum genus. Although this specsei typically exhibits the physiological characteristics of the non-dimorphic Polygonum genus. Although this specisei typically exhibits the physiological characteristics of dimorphism in controlled pollination, the short-styled individuals bear no seed in nature, thus misleading taxonomists to idenfity the short-styled plant as male. 2) The morphological feature of the flower organ of P. senticosa obviously indicates definite dimorphism. Physiologically, however, no differentiation towards dimorphism was observed, the species still retaining, both in long and short-individuals, the self-fertile property common to the Polygonum genus. Elaborate examinations revealed that regardless of the modes of pollination, both fertiization and seed setting flourish, no differentiation betwen legitimate and illegitimate unions being recognizable. This sort of physiological property has not been observed in the investigations of other heterostylous plants. It is assumed that this species is differentiated structurally into dimorphism, but not yet physiologically. In nature, however, this plant would have more opportunities to be cross-pollinated, i.e., legitimately combined, than self-pollinated because of the development of two forms of flowers. 3) In terms of heterostylism, the F. esculentum just occupies the intermediate position between P. japonica and P. senticosa structurally, ecologically, and physiologically. Doescription of some of the physiological behavior of the plant will suffice to demonstrate the above facts. While P. japonica has completely lost its self-fertile property, P. senticosa still retains it wolly. In F. esculentum 2-6% of self-fertility is the result in illegitimate combination. There occur occasionally hereditary self fertile individuals among some of the F. or 20 min. irradiation plot, when they reach any stage of the same bacterial population. In addition to this increase of total population in the plots with the more dose of UV light irradiation, it seems that the more dose of UV light irradiation is the more shortened the generation time of Azotobacter. Therefore, it is clear that variation of reproductive rate must be, mere or less, due to the genetic effects induced by UV light irradiation. On the other hand, the lag phase or logarithmic growth phase in nonirradiated culture is shortened prominently, and this must be due to the difference in bacterial number of the original inoculm. The generation time of Azotobacter is shortened by exogeneous treatment of nuclei acid derivatives, and the degree is greater in case of DNA derivatives than RNA dervatives. W.H. Price reported that the rate of ribose nucleic acid to protein in Staphylococcus muscae is proportional to the generation time: that is the faster the cell can form ribose nucleic acid, the more rapid its growth. This explains the shortening of generation time by exogeneous RNA derivatives in this work reasonably. On the other hand, it is well known that the desoxyribose nuclic acid content per cell is constant and independent of the generation time. A.D. Laren and W.N. Takahashi reported that the infectious RNA from TMV is 6 times as sensitive to inactivation by UV as it is in the form of intact virus, and that inactivation of infectious TMV involves onlu a local change on RNA chain. But, the effect of exogeneous DNA in this work suggests that irradiated living cell which cotain DNA bring about some change on DNA moleculs as well as RNA molecules. And if the mutagenic effects of UV take into consideration, it is very reasonable. Therefore, it is clear that the variation of the generation time by UV irradiation is, more or less, due to the genetic effects. Therefore, it seems that the shortness of the average lifewpan of Azotobacter by UV irradiation is resulted not only from the influence of the environmental conditions, but also from the variation of genetic factor of the individual.