An Artificial Crossing Technique for Selaginella

Citations Over TimeTop 13% of 1979 papers

Abstract

Various methods for obtaining microgametophytes, megagametophytes, and sporelings of Selaginella have been described. Slagg (1932), in a study of microgametophyte development in S. kraussiana (Kunze) A. Br., germinated microspores on plaster of Paris blocks. A similar method for germinating both microspores and megaspores was described by Bold (1967). Bierhorst (1964) described methods for obtaining reproductive stages of Selaginella for classroom use. Webster (1967) described the induction of sporelings under greenhouse and field conditions. Wetmore and Morel (1951) germinated megaspores of S. pallescens (Presl) Spring in Mart. and S. flabellata (L.) Spring on nutrient agar under sterile conditions. Through the use of a medium supplemented with various growth factors, they were able to grow gametophytic tissue for several months. Despite the above procedures for germinating spores and obtaining sexual material of Selaginella, there is but one report of artificial crosses in the genus. Burgeff and Filippi (1957) made crosses between S. martensii Spring var. martensii and S. martensii var. variegata Hort. They sowed surface-sterilized megaspores and microspores together on nutrient agar in culture tubes and, after gametophytes had formed, flooded the cultures with water to achieve fertilization. After 30-40 days, sporelings appeared. Using this method, they studied the inheritance of variegation in S. martensii var. variegata. In this paper, a crossing technique differing in several respects from the one used by Burgeff and Filippi (1957) is described. Although it has been used successfully to repeat the crosses by Burgeff and Filippi, the technique was developed for making crosses with S. kraussiana and its varieties, and the following description is based on work with these taxa. Application of this technique to a study of inheritance of pigmentation in S. kraussiana var. aurea W. Bull will be the subject of a later report.

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