Chinese Bulletin of Botany ›› 2021, Vol. 56 ›› Issue (5): 573-583.DOI: 10.11983/CBB21096

• EXPERIMENTAL COMMUNICATIONS • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Seed Development and Embryo Culture of Endangered Abies beshanzuensis

Ke Liu1, Bin Liu1, Lu Yuan1, Hui Shuai1, Yang Yang1, Tingjin Wang1, Deliang Chen2, Xiaorong Chen2, Kaibin Yang2, Xiaofeng Jin3, Liping Chen1,*()   

  1. 1Horticulture Department, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
    2Fengyangshan-Baishanzu National Nature Reserve, Qingyuan 323800, China
    3College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
  • Received:2021-06-14 Accepted:2021-09-30 Online:2021-09-01 Published:2021-10-12
  • Contact: Liping Chen

Abstract: The seed germination rate of Abies beshanzuensis is low, and the characteristics of seed development are elusive, which severely limit the natural regeneration of the population in situ. To illustrate the developmental characteris-tics of seeds and identify the main factors affecting seed development, this article aimed to study the number, weight, and microstructural characteristics of the embryo and endosperm of the seed in the female cones at different development stages, as well as the primary metabolites of the endosperm in the critical period of seed development. The results showed that July was a critical period for seed development of A. beshanzuensis. During this period, the endosperm weight increased rapidly and the carbohydrate metabolism in the endosperm was active. Anatomical and morphological analysis of the female cones showed that a large number of abnormally developed seeds appeared in cones in late July. Analysis of the primary metabolites of endosperm during the critical period showed that the content of trehalose-6-phosp-hate in the endosperm of abnormally developed seeds was significantly decreased. It was speculated that during the critical period of seed development, the decrease of trehalose-6-phosphate in the endosperm may be an important cause of abnormal seed development. Based on the characteristics of A. beshanzuensis seed development, we established the embryo culture technology for A. beshanzuensis, and generated test-tube plantlet.

Key words: Abies beshanzuensis, seed, embryo, endosperm, endangered mechanism, embryo culture