Ultra Structural Studies of Osmophores in the Petals and Pollen Grains of Jasminum Grandiforum, Jasminum Sambac and Polianthes Tuberosa

S. Elumalai¹, R. Murugesan², N. Chinnasamy¹, S. Baskaran¹ and M. Prabhakaran¹

¹PG and Research Department of Plant Biology & Biotechnology, Presidency College, Chennai - 600 005 India. ²Indian Institute of Technology Madras, SAIF (Sophisticated Analytical Instruments Facility), Chennai - 600 036 India.   Corresponding Author E-mail:ananandal@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: Organelles involved in biosynthesis and especially in secretion are poorly known. The fragrance of flowers is commonly produced by volatile substances-mainly essential oils-distributed throughout the epidermis of perianth parts. The color of petals is caused by the presence of chromoplasts or pigments in the cell sap. The pigment color is usually modified by acids and other components of the cell sap. The Ultra structural studies carried out by SEM and results were obtained and revealed that most of the plant species studies in our present study Fragrance was produced by Osmophores, located in the lobes and on the adaxial surface of the experimental plant flower buds. The Osmophores of the control plants of Jasminum grandiforum, Jasminum sambac and Polianthes tuberosa were shrunken and smaller in size and surface ornamentation are poorly absorbed. The SEM study focusing on GM plants given the results of larger pollen grains. This work is described here together with anatomical studies based on flower sectioning and staining methods. The anatomical works suggests the significance different for all control plants with GM plants. The flower petals lobes of the control plants are deeply stained, and in some cases the petal lobes stained deeper than the middle portions also it shows the small circular spots. The corolla tube appears slightly stained. The petal lobes and the corolla tube of the GM plants appears slightly stained, fairly dark lobes and some black thick vertical bands on the corolla tube. These three plant species are therefore good candidates for further oil extraction and molecular studies in order to understand and manipulate the process that are responsible for high essential oil production as well as synthesis of odor.

KEYWORDS: Osmophores; corolla tube; flower petal lobes; essential oil; scents

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