Abstract

Ziziphus jujube Mill is an economically important fruit crop species in China, well-know for its fruits with high dietary value and medical value. However, it is particularly prone to erratic fruit set showing very low and have little work on the reproduction biology. In order to clarify the megasporogensis and female gametogenesis formation in Chinese jujube, a cultivar named ‘Lizao’ was employed for light microscopy analysis. The results are showed that the development of embryo sac conformed to Polygonum type. Archespore under the nucellar epidermis directly developed a megaspore mother cell. The megaspore tetrad were arranged into a linear shape, the megaspore of chazlazal end was functional megaspore. The functional megaspore formed 7-celled or 8-nucleate embryo sac following its three times division successively. The ovules were anatropous, bitegminous and tenuinucellate. The abnormalities that occurred during female gametophyte development resulted in ovules abortion. According to our study, a large number of abortive ovules were likely the cause of the low seed set in Z. jujube ‘Lizao’. This study provides the basis for understanding the biological mechanism regulating sexual reproduction, thus expanding the prospects for Z. jujube breeding programs and for further molecular and genetic studies of this species.

Keywords:

Female gametogenesis, floral, megasporogensis, Ziziphus jujube Mill,

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