Project description:The structure of the essential oil secretory tissues of Prostanthera ovalifolia R.Br was investigated using bright- and dark-field optical microscopy, and scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The leaves of P. ovalifolia have glandular trichomes of the peltate type common to many Lamiaceae species. The trichomes consist of a basal cell embedded in the epidermis, a stalk cell with heavily cutinized walls and a 16-celled secretory head, but they differ from those of many previously reported Lamiaceae species in their morphological form defined by the elevated cuticle. The sub-cuticular space contains a mixture of lipid and aqueous phases. Secretory cells have dense cytoplasm with many leucoplasts present. Volatile terpenoids are eliminated from the cytoplasm into the sub-cuticular space, the site of essential oil accumulation, via granulocrine secretion.
Project description:Premise of the study:Microsatellite primers were developed for Primula ovalifolia, a member of Primula section Petiolares (Primulaceae), to study the population genetics and species delimitation in this section. Methods and Results:A total of 4753 markers were successfully designated from 5139 putative simple sequence repeat loci. We isolated 38 expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeat markers from 220 selected marker sites and tested polymorphism in three populations of P. ovalifolia, one of P. tardiflora, and one of P. epilosa. The number of alleles per locus ranged from one to 19, and the observed and expected levels of heterozygosity varied from 0 to 0.938 and 0 to 0.915, respectively. Most of the loci could be successfully cross-amplified in the two congeneric species. Conclusions:These markers will be useful for further population genetic analysis and gene flow estimation of P. ovalifolia and its relatives.
