title: Apospory appears to accelerate onset of meiosis and sexual embryo sac formation in sorghum ovules.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Genetically unreduced (2n) embryo sacs (ES) form in ovules of gametophytic apomicts, the 2n eggs of which develop into embryos parthenogenetically. In many apomicts, 2n ES form precociously during ovule development. Whether meiosis and sexual ES formation also occur precociously in facultative apomicts (capable of apomictic and sexual reproduction) has not been studied. We determined onset timing of meiosis and sexual ES formation for 569 Sorghum bicolor genotypes, many of which produced 2n ES facultatively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Genotype differences for onset timing of meiosis and sexual ES formation, relative to ovule development, were highly significant. A major source of variation in timing of sexual germline development was presence or absence of apomictic ES, which formed from nucellar cells (apospory) in some genotypes. Genotypes that produced these aposporous ES underwent meiosis and sexual ES formation precociously. Aposporous ES formation was most prevalent in subsp. verticilliflorum and in breeding lines of subsp. bicolor. It was uncommon in land races.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study adds meiosis and sexual ES formation to floral induction, apomictic ES formation, and parthenogenesis as processes observed to occur precociously in apomictic plants. The temporally diverse nature of these events suggests that an epigenetic memory of the plants' apomixis status exists throughout its life cycle, which triggers, during multiple life cycle phases, temporally distinct processes that accelerate reproduction.
authors.affiliation: Plants, Soils & Climate Department, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84322-4820, USA. john.carman@usu.edu
authors.forename: John G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Carman
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jamison
authors.forename: Estella
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Elliott
authors.forename: Krishna K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Dwivedi
authors.forename: Tamara N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Naumova
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D004171:Diploidy; D005453:Fluorescence; D007178:Inbreeding; D008540:Meiosis; D056771:Ovule / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000166:cytology* / Q000196:embryology*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000378:metabolism; D012098:Reproduction; D012639:Seeds / Q000166:cytology* / Q000196:embryology*; D045868:Sorghum / Q000166:cytology* / Q000196:embryology*; D057891:Tetraploidy