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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2015, Vol. 24 ›› Issue (2): 130-141.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb20150215

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Fruit micromorphology of Brassicaceae in China and notes on systematic implications

CAO Dongling, LIU Mei*, RU Jian, WANG Jingru, CHENG Xinyu, SHI Chuanqi, WANG Chen   

  1. College of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Normal University, Key Laboratory of Plant Biology, College of Heilongjiang Province, Harbin 150025, China
  • Received:2014-07-03 Online:2015-02-20 Published:2015-02-20

Abstract: The fruit structure of 77 species and 6 varieties representing 9 tribes and 35 genera of Brassicaceae in China were studied using glycol methacrylate (GMA) section. The observations revealed that fruits were generally laterally or dorsally compressed. The fruits of Euclidieae and Matthioleae were glabrous; fruits from the remaining tribes were single-celled trichomes which included simple, T-shaped, furcate and stellate forms. The fruits of Lepidieae had wings which varied in size and shape. The mesocarp was composed of parenchyma cells and fibers in most taxa, lignified in some taxa (Arabideae, Lepidieae and Hesperideae). Vascular bundles were found in the parenchyma tissue of the mesocarp. The pseudoseptum of Arabideae and Hesperideae was lignified, whereas those of the other six tribes consisted of 2 layers of parenchyma cells. Anobvious pseudoseptum was not observed in Isatis costata and Pachypterygium multicaule. Usually, all of these features were endemic in the genus and important for taxonomy. The present study identified additional morphological features of Brassicaceae fruit and provided the taxonomic evidence to support the conclusion from molecular analysis defining the tribes and genera of the Brassicaceae family.