combining-histochemical-staining-image-analysis-to-quantify-starch

Combining Histochemical Staining and Image Analysis to Quantify Starch in the Ovary Primordia of Sweet Cherry during Winter Dormancy

Changes in starch in small structures are associated with key events during several plant developmental processes, including the reproductive phase from ...

Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria de Aragón

Temperate woody perennials survive to low temperatures in winter entering a dormant stage. Dormancy is not just a survival strategy, since chilling accumulation is required for proper flowering and arbitrates species adaptation to different latitudes. In spite of the fact that chilling requirements have been known for two centuries, the biological basis behind remain elusive. Since chilling accumulation is required for the normal growth of flower buds, it is tempting to hypothesize that something might be going on at this particular stage during winter dormancy. Here, we characterized flower bud development in relation to dormancy, quantifying changes in starch in the flower primordia in two sweet cherry cultivars over a cold and a mild year. Results show that, along the winter, flower buds remain at the same phenological stage with flower primordia at the very same developmental stage. But, surprisingly, important variation in the starch content of the ovary primordia cells occurs. Starch accumulated following the same pattern than chilling accumulation and reaching a maximum at chilling fulfillment. This starch subsequently vanished during ecodormancy concomitantly with ovary development before budbreak. These results showed that, along the apparent inactivity during endodormancy, flower primordia were physiologically active accumulating starch, providing a biological basis to understand chilling requirements.

Dormant Flower Buds Actively Accumulate Starch over Winter in Sweet Cherry.

Anther and pollen development is a highly conserved process in angiosperms, but while pollen formation in annual plants occurs in a few days, in temperate woody perennials, it requires several months. How anther and pollen development is framed in terms of seasonality plays a clear part in reproductive success. In this study, seasonal anther and pollen development is characterized in two sweet cherry cultivars over 2 years, paying special attention to the period of dormancy and unveiling the role of starch in this process. We evaluated starch content from the autumn until bud burst with the help of an image analysis system fitted to a light microscope. Microscope observations allowed the temporal relationship of pollen development to the phenological stages of flower and bud development to be determined. In both cultivars and years, anther and pollen development followed the same pattern. Development was halted by dormancy, when the anthers showed no morphological changes until several weeks after chilling fulfillment, until the milder temperatures reactivated development. After dormancy, starch was accumulated in the connective tissue until tracheary element differentiation. Quantification of starch in the connective tissue of anthers revealed its importance in supporting pollen meiosis and subsequent anther growth.

Erica Fadon

Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón - IA2 (CITA-Universidad de Zaragoza)

Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria de Aragón

Combining Histochemical Staining and Image Analysis to Quantify Starch in the Ovary Primordia of Sweet Cherry during Winter Dormancy

Erica Fadon

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Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria de Aragón

Combining Histochemical Staining and Image Analysis to Quantify Starch in the Ovary Primordia of Sweet Cherry during Winter Dormancy

Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón - IA2 (CITA-Universidad de Zaragoza)