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Cabomba as a model basal angiosperm (Research in Context)

doi:10.1093/aob/mcr088

Early-diverging angiosperms are important for studies of the origin and early evolution of the flower. Vialette-Guiraud et al. (pp. 589–598) discuss the potential of the water lily Cabomba (Nymphaeales) as a model basal angiosperm, as it combines simplicity of floral structure, numerous pleisiomorphic angiosperm characters, and practical features that make it amenable to study using a broad range of molecular biological techniques. They also provide protocols for the growth and molecular analysis of Cabomba, a Cabomba flower EST database, and a genome size measurement of C. caroliniana.

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Pollen-tube growth in early angiosperms

doi:10.1093/aob/mcr021

The three earliest extant lineages of flowering plants are represented by only some 16 genera. Despite low species diversity, these genera are highly diverse in their morphology, so inferring ancestral features in angiosperms is problematic. Using SEM, TEM and immunocytochemistry, Prychid et al. (pp. 599–608) investigate the reproductive structures of a relatively newly discovered early angiosperm, Trithuria (Hydatellaceae). The presence of a dry-type stigma in Trithuria supports the hypothesis that this condition is ancestral in angiosperms.

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