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Dehiscence (Botany) - Wikipedia
Dehiscence (Botany) - Wikipedia
Dehiscence (Botany) - Wikipedia
Dehiscence (botany)
Dehiscence is the splitting of a mature plant structure along a built-in line of weakness in
order to release its contents. This is common among fruits, anthers and sporangia.
Sometimes this involves the complete detachment of a part; structures that open in this
way are said to be dehiscent. Structures that do not open in this way are called
indehiscent, and rely on other mechanisms such as decay or predation to release the
contents.
Dehiscence of the follicular fruit of milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) revealing seeds within
A similar process to dehiscence occurs in some flower buds (e.g., Platycodon, Fuchsia), but
this is rarely referred to as dehiscence unless circumscissile dehiscence is involved; anthesis
is the usual term for the opening of flowers. Dehiscence may or may not involve the loss of
a structure through the process of abscission. The lost structures are said to be
caducous.
Manipulation of dehiscence can improve crop yield since a trait that causes seed dispersal is
a disadvantage for farmers whose goal is to collect the seed. Many of the agronomically
important plants have been bred for reduced shattering.
Mechanisms
Explosive dehiscence E…
Explosive dehiscence is a ballistic form of dispersal that flings seeds or spores far from
the parent plant. This rapid plant movement can achieve limited dispersal without the
assistance of animals. A notable example is the sandbox tree (Hura crepitans), which can
fling seeds 100 meters (300 ft) and has been called the "dynamite tree" due to the loud
sound it generates. Another example is Impatiens, whose explosive dehiscence is triggered by
being touched, leading it to be called the "touch-me-not." Ecballium elaterium, the
'squirting cucumber', uses explosive dehiscence to disperse its seeds, ejecting them from
matured fruit in a stream of mucilaginous liquid. Explosive dehiscence of sporangia is a
characteristic of Sphagnum.[1]
In loculicidal dehiscence, the locule wall splits between the septa, leaving the latter
intact, while in septicidal dehiscence the split is at the septum that separates the loculi.
Septicidal and loculicidal dehiscence may not be completely distinct; in some cases both the
septa and the walls of the locules split.
Septicidal dehiscence. The septa between the locules of Ledum palustre capsules split as the
fruit opens, and the seeds are released.
Loculicidal dehiscence. The locules of Lagerstroemia capsules split as the fruit opens, and the
septa remain intact.
Loculicidal dehiscence in Peganum harmala
A complex form of dehiscence. The calyx of Hibiscus trionum has opened apically to reveal the
capsule (ovary) inside. The capsule has split vertically in the centre, as well as through the
locule walls.
Types
Dehiscence occurs through breakage of various parts of the enclosing structure; the
mechanisms can be classified in various ways, but intermediate forms also occur.
Transverse dehiscence of a pair of anthers
Poricidal dehiscence E…
Dehiscence through a small hole (pore) is referred to as poricidal dehiscence. The pore may
have a cover (operculate poricidal dehiscense or operculate dehiscence) that is referred
to as an operculum or it may not (inoperculate poricidal dehiscense or inoperculate
dehiscence).
Poricidal dehiscence occurs in many unrelated organisms, in fruit, causing the release of
seeds, and also in the sporangia of many organisms (flowering plants, ferns, fungi, slime
molds). Poricidal anthers of various flowers are associated with buzz pollination by
insects.
Circumscissile dehiscence E…
Anther dehiscence
Anther dehiscence is the final function of the anther that causes the release of pollen
grains. This process is coordinated precisely with pollen differentiation, floral
development, and flower opening.
The anther wall breaks at a specific site. Usually this site is observed as an indentation
between the locules of each theca and runs the length of the anther, but in species with
poricidal anther dehiscence it is instead a small pore. If the pollen is released from the
anther through a split on the outer side (relative to the center of the flower), this is
extrorse dehiscence, and if the pollen is released from the inner side, this is introrse
dehiscence. If the pollen is released through a split that is positioned to the side, towards
other anthers, rather than towards the inside or outside of the flower, this is latrorse
dehiscence.
The stomium is the region of the anther where dehiscence occurs. The degeneration of the
stomium and septum cells is part of a developmentally timed cell-death program. Expansion
of the endothecial layer and subsequent drying are also required for dehiscence. The
endothecium tissue is responsible for the tensions that lead to splitting of the anther. This
tissue is usually one to several layers thick, with cells walls of uneven thickness due to
uneven lignification. The cells lose water, and the uneven thickness causes the thinner
walls of the cells to stretch to a greater extent. This creates a tension that eventually
leads to the anther being split along its line of weakness and releasing pollen grains to the
atmosphere.
Flower buds
Flower buds of Eucalyptus and related genera open with circumscissile dehiscence. A small
cap separates from the remainder of the bud along a circular horizontal zone.
Corymbia ficifolia
Eucalyptus globulus
Fruit dehiscence
There are many different types of fruit dehiscence, that involve different types of
structures. Some fruits are indehiscent, and do not open to disperse the seeds. Xerochasy is
dehiscence that occurs upon drying, and hygrochasy is dehiscence that occurs upon
wetting, the fruit being hygroscopic. Dehiscent fruits that are derived from one carpel are
follicles or legumes, and those derived from multiple carpels are capsules or siliques.[3]
One example of a dehiscent fruit is the silique. This fruit develops from a gynoecium
composed of two fused carpels,[3] which, upon fertilization, grow to become a silique that
contains the developing seeds. After seed maturation, dehiscence takes place, and valves
detach from the central septum freeing the seeds. This is also known as shattering and can
be important as a seed dispersal mechanism. This process is similar to anther dehiscence and
the region that breaks (dehiscence zone) runs the entire length of the fruit between the
valves (the outer walls of the ovary) and the replum (the persisting septa of the ovary).
At maturity, the dehiscence zone is effectively a non-lignified layer between two regions of
lignified cells in the valve and the replum. Shattering occurs due to the combination of cell
wall loosening in the dehiscence zone and the tensions established by the differential
mechanical properties of the drying cells.
Poppy fruit showing poricidal dehiscence; the seeds exit through pores beneath the "crown"
Rhododendron capsules have septicidal dehiscence; the fruit splits through the septa between
the carpels
Iridaceae capsules have loculicidal dehiscence; the fruit splits through the ovary wall of
each carpel, allowing the seeds to exit directly from the locule
Anagallis fruits open with circumscissile dehiscence. A small cap separates from the remainder
of the fruit along a circular horizontal zone.
Anagallis fruit, circumscissile dehiscence
Spathoglottis plicata capsules, like in most orchids, split longitudinally along three to six
slits while remaining closed at both ends
Endothecium tissue found in moss capsules functions in a similar way in dehiscence to the
endothecium in the walls of anthers (see above).
Sporangium dehiscence in ferns
Many leptosporangiate ferns have an annulus around the sporangium, which ejects the
spores. Eusporangiate ferns do not generally have specialized dehiscence mechanisms.
Schizocarp—a type of fruit that breaks apart and may or may not be dehiscent.
References
2. Hickey, M.; King, C. (2001). The Cambridge Illustrated Glossary of Botanical Terms. Cambridge
University Press.
3. Esau, K. 1977. Anatomy of seed plants. John Wiley and Sons, New York.
Bibliography
Hickey, Michael; King, Clive (2000). The Cambridge illustrated glossary of botanical terms (https://bo
oks.google.com/books?id=0Yja1lL_pJYC) . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-
79401-5.
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