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A potential contribution of achene micromorphology and phytolith analysis in describing the systematics of genus Bolboschoenus from India

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Abstract

Three entities of taxonomically difficult genus Bolboschoenus collected from India were subjected to micromorphological and phytolith studies. For micromorphological study, silica bodies in the outer cells of the achene epidermis were revealed by acetolysis and sonication and examined by scanning electron microscopy. A silica body consists of a basal platform, one or more large elevated protuberances, and sometimes smaller satellite protuberances. Significant differences have been found in the number of protuberances, the presence/absence of satellites, the texture of the platform, and the occurrence of nodules on the larger protuberances at individual species level. These features, combined with achene shape and characteristics of the anticlinal walls of the epidermal cells (undulate vs. straight, thick vs. thin, buttressed or not), are expressed in a unique combination for each entity. It is clearly evident from the study that micromorphological characters of the achene epidermis vary significantly between different species. Therefore, the micromorphology of the achene epidermis of Bolboschoenus is valuable in understanding the taxonomy at infraspecific, specific and supraspecific levels in the genus. Results provided by phytolith analysis are useful not only in taxonomic demarcation of Bolboschoenus, but they will be useful in future archaeobotanical and paleoecological investigations also. In conclusion, present study confirms the presence of B. affinis and B. glaucus in India, while suggests more investigation on presence of B. maritimus in India.

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Acknowledgements

The authors express their sincere gratitude to Uttar Pradesh State Biodiversity Board (UPSBB) for providing fund and Head, Department of Botany, University of Allahabad, Allahabad for providing laboratory facilities, and to Institute of Botany of AS CR, Průhonice, Czech Republic for supporting Z. Hroudová (long-term research development project no. RVO67985939). Authors are also thankful to Prof. A. C. Pandey for providing SEM facility and Dr. Prashant Kumar Singh for his valuable help during the SEM imaging of the achene samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. D D Pant Interdisciplinary Research Laboratory, Department of Botany, University of Allahabad, Allahabad, 211002, India

    Sanjay Mishra, Durgesh Kumar Tripathi & Devendra Kumar Chauhan

  2. Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 221005, India

    Durgesh Kumar Tripathi

  3. Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 252 43, Průhonice, Czech Republic

    Zdenka Hroudová

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  1. Sanjay Mishra
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  3. Zdenka Hroudová
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Correspondence to Sanjay Mishra or Devendra Kumar Chauhan.

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Mishra, S., Tripathi, D.K., Hroudová, Z. et al. A potential contribution of achene micromorphology and phytolith analysis in describing the systematics of genus Bolboschoenus from India. Plant Syst Evol 301, 955–966 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-014-1128-3

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