Evolution of plant reproduction: from fusion and dispersal to interaction and communication

Based on the existing data concerning the evolution of the sexual reproduction, it is argued that the processes of sex differentiation and interactions play a key role in evolution. From the beginning environment and organism are unified. In a changing dynamic environment life originates and the interaction between life and environment develops from simple to more complex organisms. Sexual reproduction is introduced after the origin of meiosis and is a key process in evolution. The asexual reproduction process prepares to dispersal. Sexual reproduction process adds the genome renewal and the gamete-gamete interaction. Reproduction and dispersal are connected and the process of reproduction has similarities between asexual and sexual reproduction. Unicellular algae develop the physiological and morphological sex differentiation. Sex differentiation is connected with the way of dispersal. The step to multicellular plants introduces cell isolation after meiosis and by the stay on the mother plant within a cell or organ, plant-cell apoplastic interaction originates and by prolonged stay the plant-plant interaction. This stay influences the type of dispersal. A life cycle with alternation of generations and two moments of dispersal permits plants to go on land. In ferns a shift in the moment of sex differentiation to meiospore happens and the stay of the macrospore leads to the seed plants. In water all types of sexual reproduction, interactions and the alternation of generations are prepared and these are used to conquest land. On land the biotic dispersal is realized. The phylogeny of sexual reproduction reveals that the sex differentiation and interaction are the main causes in the evolution of sexual reproduction. Sexual reproduction shows interactions during gamete fusion, between organism and environment and in multicellular plants between organisms. With respect to other types of interaction as in symbiosis or the nutrient chain, interaction is considered as an important action which is based on a persisting cooperation and points to a push during evolution. The push is expressed as communication: the driving force in the evolution. Based on the interactions between organisms and interactions between organisms and the dynamic environment, communication is considered as a driving force leading to the evolution as explained in the development of plant reproduction. Consequences for reproduction, its regulation and the process of evolution are discusse

Plant sexual reproduction: aspects of interaction, history and regulation

Sexual reproduction in angiosperms is an interactive process involving the sporophyte, gametophytes, embryo and endosperm as well as the environment, aimed at achieving pollination, fertilization and dispersal. This interaction occurs via an interface with nutrients and signals outside the cell and even outside the plant. Sexual reproduction has a history. In water, algae have different types of sex organs and gametes, and in some cases the female gamete stays on the plant. The zygote uses water movement and gravity for dispersal. Some algae have alternation of generations in the life cycle, and only the gametophyte functions in sexual reproduction. On land, ferns and mosses inherited alternation of generations, with oogamy and zygote development on the gametophyte, with wind dispersal of the meiospore. In angiosperms, heterospory and the retention of the megaspore, megagametophyte and embryo on the sporophyte lead to a seed with gravity and biotic dispersal. The history of sexual reproduction is based on sex determination, due to cross-fertilization and recombination. Sex differentiation is manifested in the increasing complexity of interaction in the nutrient supply, the retention of the gametophyte or even the embryo, and the type of vector of dispersal. Regulation of sexual reproduction in angiosperms is governed mainly by the sporophyte, with the expression of new genes for biotic pollination and seed dispersal. In the heterotrophic gametophyte some gene expression is suppressed. The development of sexual reproduction is due to the communication between the organism and a dynamic environment

Vernieuwing en verscheidenheid : geslachtelijke voortplanting als ontwikkelingsproces

Rede Wageningen (no. 346

Toward in vitro fertilization in Brachiaria spp.

Brachiaria are forage grasses widely cultivated in tropical areas. In vitro pollination was applied to accessions of Brachiaria spp. by placing pollen of non-dehiscent anthers on a solid medium near isolated ovaries. Viability and in vitro germination were tested in order to establish good conditions for pollen development. Comparing sexual to apomictic plants, apomictic pollen has more abortion after meiosis during the microspore stage and a lower viability and, of both types, only some plants have sufficient germination in a high sugar concentration. Using in vitro pollination with the sexual plant, the pollen tube penetrates into the nucellus and micropyle, but the embryo sac degenerates and collapses. In the apomictic B. decumbens, in vitro pollination leads to the transfer of the sperm nuclei into the egg cell and the central cell. The results are discussed according to normal fertilization and barriers in sexual and apomictic plants

Sexual reproduction in seed plants, ferns and mosses

Behandeling van de biologie met betrekking tot de geslachtelijke voortplanting van deze plantesoort en onderzoek- en vermeerderingstechnieken op dit gebied. Aandacht voor de ontwikkeling van sporen en microsporen; mannelijke steriliteit; vorming van de stuifmeelbuis en invloeden op diverse ontwikkelingsstadia; enkele nieuwe methoden met betrekking tot het gebruik van "fluorochromen", immunologische technieken en kwantitatieve metingen aan pollen; oppervlakte van de stigma; incompatibiliteit; kieming van stuifmeel; megasporogenese; zaadcellen; structuur van de embryozak; bevruchting; apomixis en embryogenes

Interactions with the environment during plant sexual reproduction and dispersal consequences for the concept of sexual reproduction and life

The interaction between seed plants and animals during pollination and fruit and seed dispersal is well known, and marks the sexual reproduction process. During the history of the plant kingdom, the development of sexual reproduction has been governed by changes in the environment of the plant, together with the increasing complexity of organisms. The interactions between gametes and the environment are prepared during gametogenesis, and therefore reproduction and dispersal are related from the beginning. The dynamic environment should be considered as an interactive partner. The more intensive interactions in multicellular organisms make the interaction in seed plants far more complex. Sexual reproduction plays a key role in the progress of the interaction between the dynamic environment and the biosphere. Sexual reproduction embodies the renewal and dispersal of organisms. This means that the interactions between organisms and their environment are not only an essential element of sexual reproduction but also a characteristic of life, based on the unity of organism and environment. The driving force of the increasing complexity of life is the dynamic environment and the persisting organism