Elucidation of foliar glands of Rhamnaceae species

• Grant number: 19/11089-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2019
• End date: July 31, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany
• Principal Investigator: Simone de Pádua Teixeira
• Grantee: Lucas Iwamoto Feitosa
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto (FCFRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The study of the nature of secretory structures in plants is one of the botanic areas with great spotlight due to its multidisciplinary aspect. These structures show an enormous variety in type, location in the plant body and chemical nature of its secretions. In the Rhamnaceae family, commonly known by its popular name Buckthorns or by its notable species like the Japanese raisin and the Jujube, there is a gap in the literature about this issue. In the genus Colubrina, for example, there are some studies that report the presence of extrafloral nectaries, without, however, showing any description on morphology of these glands. In Hovenia, there is one detailed anatomical study, which showed that such structures were not actually nectaries but oil glands, denominated food bodies. Thus, this project aims to elucidate the nature of the foliar glands in three species of Rhamnaceae, Colubrina glandulosa, Gouania virgata and Rhamnidium elaeocarpum, by means of surface analyses (scanning electron microscopy), histochemistry (light microscopy) and ultrastructure (transmission electron microscopy).