
Chrissie PrychidRoyal Botanic Gardens, Kew · Jodrell Laboratory
Chrissie Prychid
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44
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Introduction
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September 1992 - present
Publications
Publications (44)
Plants combine both chemical and structural means to appear colorful. We now have an extensive understanding of the metabolic pathways used by flowering plants to synthesize pigments, but the mechanisms remain obscure whereby cells produce microscopic structures sufficiently regular to interfere with light and create an optical effect. Here, we com...
Cyperaceae subfamily Mapanioideae have reproductive units called spicoids, which are interpreted alternatively as flowers or partial inflorescence, and little is known about morphological variation of spicoids from an evolutionary perspective. Combining morphological and evolutionary analyses, we aimed to assess variation in spicoid morphology and...
Helicoidally arranged layers of cellulose microfibrils in plant cell walls can produce strong and vivid coloration in a wide range of species. Despite its significance, the morphogenesis of cell walls, whether reflective or not, is not fully understood. Here we show that by optically monitoring the reflectance of Pollia japonica fruits during devel...
Succulence is widely interpreted as an adaptation to drought, usually associated with CAM and xeromorphic features among arid-adapted plants. However, this syndrome can also be observed in species typical of mesic and even hydric environments. The leaf-succulent genus Crassula (Crassulaceae) occurs in contrasting habitats in all nine biomes of sout...
The PhyloCode is used to classify taxa based on their relation to a most recent common ancestor as recovered from a phylogenetic analysis. We examined the first specimen of Cintractiella ( Ustilaginomycotina ) collected from Australia and determined its systematic relationship to other Fungi . Three ribosomal DNA loci were analysed both with and wi...
Mapanioideae (besides Cyperoideae the other subfamily of Cyperaceae) is divided in two tribes (Hypolytreae and Chrysi-tricheae) in which the reproductive units (spicoids) are interpreted either as flowers or as inflorescences. Little is known about the ontogenetic factors operating during the spicoid development and how they may contribute to the s...
Viburnum tinus is an evergreen shrub that is native to the Mediterranean region but cultivated widely in Europe and around the world. It produces ripe metallic blue fruits throughout winter [1]. Despite its limited fleshy pulp [2], its high lipid content [3] makes it a valuable resource to the small birds [4] that act as its seed-dispersers [5]. He...
The rattan genus Korthalsia Blume (Arecaceae: Calamoideae: Calameae) is widespread in the Malesian region. Among the 28 accepted species are 10 species that form intimate associations with ants. The ants inhabit the conspicuous ocreas that are produced by these species, using them as domatia to care for their young and aphids. As a foundation for f...
Botanical, historical, and archaeological collections have been the source of extraordinarily long-lived seeds, which have been used to revive extinct genotypes or species. The longest-lived example of a viable seed of known age is the date palm, Phoenix dactylifera L., of which an estimated 2000-year-old seed was germinated in 2005. Seed longevity...
The Indonesian island of Sulawesi possesses a biota defined by anomaly (Wallace 1869). It has high levels of endemism (Michaux 2010) but, despite attracting research interest since the time of biogeographic pioneers such as Alfred Russell Wallace, the island remains relatively undocumented (van Welzen et al. 2011) with collection rates below much o...
We investigated the monophyly of Costularia (25 species), a genus of tribe Schoeneae (Cyperaceae) that illustrates a remarkable distribution pattern from southeastern Africa, over Madagascar, the Mascarenes and Seychelles, to Malesia and New Caledonia. A further species, Tetraria borneensis, has been suggested to belong to Costularia. Relationships...
An important goal of the angiosperm systematics community has been to develop a shared approach to molecular data collection, such that phylogenomic data sets from different focal clades can be combined for meta-studies across the entire group. Although significant progress has been made through efforts such as DNA barcoding, transcriptome sequenci...
We leverage genomic resources from 43 angiosperm species to develop enrichment probes useful for collecting textasciitilde500 loci from non-model taxa across the diversity of angiosperms. By taking an anchored phylogenomics approach, in which probes are designed to represent sequence diversity across the group, we are able to efficiently target loc...
Due to the immense ecological and economic significance of grasses, their highly characteristic long–short epidermal patterning and associated silica phytoliths represent significant diagnostic markers in studies of ancient climate change and agriculture. We explore the link between epidermal cell patterning and phytolith development and review the...
Calcium oxalate (CaOx) crystals are a common natural feature of many plant families, including the Leguminosae. The functional role of crystals and the mechanisms that underlie their deposition remain largely unresolved. In several species, the seasonal deposition of crystals has been observed. To gain insight into the effects of rainfall on crysta...
Using flow cytometry, we analyzed genome size (2C, nuclear DNA amount) and genomic base composition (GC content) in more than 600 taxa of Cyperaceae + Juncaceae + Thurniaceae covering representatively all main lineages of this Cyperid clade. Compared to representatives of the other 13 families in Poales, the evolution of the holokinetic chromosome...
Background and AimsIn the sedge subfamily Mapanioideae there are considerable discrepancies between the standard trimerous monocot floral architecture expected and the complex floral and inflorescence morphologies seen. Decades of debate about whether the basic reproductive units are single flowers or pseudanthia have not resolved the question. Thi...
The ultrastructure of the pollen tubes and the unusual multicellular stigmatic hairs of Trithuria, the sole genus of Hydatellaceae, are described in the context of comparative studies of stigmatic and transmitting tissue in other early-divergent angiosperms.
Scanning and transmission electron microscopy and immunocytochemistry are used to study the...
Mapaniids are critical to resolving floral and spikelet
ontogeny in Cyperaceae
Bruhl, JJ
4
, Vrijdaghs, A
2
, Prychid, C
1
, Reynders, M3
1
Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK;
2
Laboratory of Plant Systematics, Institute of Botany and
Microbiology, KU Leuven, Belgium;
3
Universiteit Gent,
Vakgroep Biologie, Onderzoeksgroep Zaa...
TEM investigation of sieve-element plastids in three species of Trithuria, the sole genus of the small aquatic family Hydatellaceae, show that P-type plastids are absent from this genus and only starch-accumulating (S-type) sieve-element plastids are present. This discovery is consistent with the recent transfer of Hydatellaceae from the highly der...
Reproductive units (RUs) of Trithuria, the sole genus of the early-divergent angiosperm family Hydatellaceae, are compared with flowers of their close relatives in Cabombaceae (Nymphaeales). Trithuria RUs combine features of flowers and inflorescences. They differ from typical flowers in possessing an "inside-out" morphology, with carpels surroundi...
The small aquatic family Hydatellaceae was recently assigned to the early-divergent angiosperm order Nymphaeales. Pollen morphology is described using both SEM and LM for all 12 species of Hydatellaceae, and using TEM for one species (T. submersa). These observations are compared with pollen data from the other two families of Nymphaeales, Nymphaea...
Species of Araceae accumulate calcium oxalate in the form of characteristically grooved needle-shaped raphide crystals and multi-crystal druses. This study focuses on the distribution and development of raphides and druses during leaf growth in ten species of Amorphophallus (Araceae) in order to determine the crystal macropatterns and the underlyin...
Bromeliaceae possess several features of pollen and anther wall development that are plesiomorphic for Poales, consistent with their putatively basal or near‐basal placement in this order. For example, successive microsporogenesis and the monocotyledonous type of anther wall formation are both plesiomorphic features that occur commonly in other Poa...
Floral anatomy is described in ten genera of Bromeliaceae, including three members of subfamily Bromelioideae, three Tillandsioideae, and four genera of the polyphyletic subfamily Pitcairnioideae (including Brocchinia, the putatively basal genus of Bromeliaceae). Bromeliaceae are probably unique in the order Poales in possessing septal nectaries an...
Floral anatomy is described in eight species (representing five genera) of Pontederiaceae, and floral ontogeny is described in Pontederia cordata. The results are assessed in the context of recent phylogenetic work on Pontederiaceae, which indicates that the unilocular ovary condition has been achieved by two different, non-homologous routes in Pon...
Ovule structure and development are described for twelve species of Bromeliaceae, representing ten genera and all three subfamilies, including all three tribes of the polyphyletic subfamily Pitcairnioideae (Brocchinieae, Puyeae and Pitcairnieae). The characteristic micropylar and chalazal seed appendages of Bromeliaceae are compared with developing...
This paper presents the first record of silica deposits in tissues of Haemodoraceae and adds new records of tapetal raphides in this family. Within the order Commelinales, silica is present in leaves of three families (Hanguanacaeae, Haemodoraceae and Commelinaceae), but entirely absent from the other two (Pontederiaceae and Philydraceae). Presence...
Many plants take up soluble monosilicic acid from the soil. Some of these plants subsequently deposit it as cell inclusions
of characteristic structure. This article describes the distribution and diversity of opaline silica bodies in monocotyledons
in a phylogenetic framework, together with a review of techniques used for their examination, and th...
The suitability of cryopreservation for the secure, long-term storage of the rare and endangered species Cosmos atrosanguineus was investigated. Using encapsulation/dehydration of shoot tips in alginate strips, survival rates of up to 100 % and shoot regeneration of up to 35 % were achieved. Light and electron microscopy studies indicated that cell...
Three main types of calcium oxalate crystal occur in monocotyledons: raphides, styloids and druses, although intermediates are sometimes recorded. The presence or absence of the different crystal types may represent ‘useful’ taxonomic characters. For instance, styloids are characteristic of some families of Asparagales, notably Iridaceae, where rap...
Intra-ovarian trichomes are taxonomically widespread in monocotyledons, but especially clustered among the 'basal' groups, such as Acorils and Araceae. By means of extensive Golgi activity, they actively secrete a jelly-like mucilage which fills the ovary locules. Since mucilage is known to promote pollen tube growth, intra-ovarian trichomes have a...
The stigma ofCaesalpinia pulcherrimais crateriform. The crater continues as a slit-like canal through the style and into the ovary. Both crater and canal are lined by several layers of fusiform and thin-walled cells which are continuous in two narrow regions in the ovary. Post-anthesis and before pollination, the middle lamella of cells lining the...