Implication of scanning electron microscopy in the seed morphology with special reference to three subfamilies of Fabaceae

• Published in: Microscopy research and technique Vol. 84; no. 9; pp. 2176 - 2185
• Main Authors: Waheed, Abdul, Ahmad, Mushtaq, Ghufran, Muhammad Asad, Jabeen, Asma, Ozdemir, Fethi Ahmet, Zafar, Muhammad, Sultana, Shazia, Shah, Muhammad Ajmal, Majeed, Salman, Khan, Aamir Shehzad
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, USA John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01-09-2021; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Caesalpinioideae; Electron microscopes; Fabaceae; Leguminous plants; Mimosoideae; Morphology; Papilionoideae; Ridges; Scanning electron microscopy; seed morphology; Seeds; SEM; Surface layers; Taxonomic significance; Texture; Mimosoideae; Caesalpinioideae; Papilionoideae; SEM; seed morphology
• ISSN: 1059-910X; 1097-0029
• DOI: 10.1002/jemt.23772

The current research work was aimed to determine the morphological variation in the seeds of subfamilies Caesalpinioideae, Mimosoideae, and Papilionoideae using scanning electron microscope to investigate the different seed features including; Seed length, width, weight, hilum shape, position, fracture line pattern, pleurogram shape, texture crudeness, ornamentation wall, and surface ornamentation. A total of 12 species were collected. The study reveals that the seed types alters from psilate to rugose, pleurogram shape from lunar to U shape, hilum shape from elliptical to depressed, hilum position from terminal to subterminal, fracture line pattern from reticulate irregular ridges to psilate with regular ridges, texture crudeness from fine to coarse, surface ornamentation from reticulate to psilate, and ornamentation wall also varies from thin to thick. In all the studied species, it was found that seed surface was brown in color except in Senna alata, in which seed surface was black. Regarding the seed size, it was found that the smallest seed was observed for Sesbania sesban, while the largest seed was observed for Pongamia pinnata. The present research article indicates the taxonomic significance of seed morphology in the subfamilies Caesalpinioideae, Mimosaceae, and Papilionoideae.
Microscopy and Fabaceae