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POLLEN MORPHOLOGY OF SOME ASIATIC SPECIES OF GENUS SALSOLA (CHENOPODIACEAE) AND ITS TAXONOMIC RELATIONSHIPS

K. NIKOLAEVNA TODERICH ¹, E. VIKTOROVNA SHUYSKAYA², MUNIR OZTURK³*, ALEKSANDROVNA JUYLOVA¹ AND LILYA GISMATULINA¹

Abstract: Comparative studies on the pollen grain morphology of 27 Asiatic species of the genus Salsola were conducted by using scanning electron microscope (SEM analysis) in order to assess the taxonomic value of pollen traits. The pollen are radially symmetrical isopolar, pantopolyporate, spherical or subspheroid. The pollen characters like size, pore number, chord (C/D ratio), pore diameter, exine thickness, level of sinking of pore, convexness of mesoporial exine, spinule and minute-hole densities and number of spines on pore membrane appeared to be useful characters in distinguishing the species. Interesting intraspecific variations in pollen grain morphology were recorded for the C/D ratio. This parameter is highly specific, supporting the delimitation of Salsola species, and appears to be more conservative than some flower and fruit characters. The numerical value of form index comprising the ratio between the length of polar axis and diameter (P/E) also was an informative trait for delimitation of the species investigated here. Three pollen types were recognized. Euclidean distance was used to compute the dissimilarity matrix and a cladogram prepared. The quantitative characters of pollen morphology allowed clustering of groups and ordination analyses of species from different sections/subsections within genus Salsola. These features indicated that overall pollen traits reflect the current taxonomic boundaries, except for the Salsola species allocated to Climacoptera and Halothamnus, which should be accepted as separate genera.

¹Samarkand Branch of Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan1, Department of Desert Ecology and Water Resources Research, T. Malik 3, Samarkand, 401000, Uzbekistan

²K.A. Timiriazev Plant Physiology Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Botanicheskaya 35,Moscow, 127276, Russia

³*Corresponding author: Dr. Munir OZTURK, Ege University, Botany Department, Bornova, Izmir, Turkey. E-mail: munirozturk@gmail.com