Structural Aspects of the Reduced Free-floating Hydrophyte, Spirodela polyrhiza

Aspects of structural differentiation of the free -floating hydrophyte, Spirodela polyrhira, has been investigated. The hydrophyte exhibited highly reduced structures having only fronds, connective stalks, and roots as a mature plant. The fronds were major photosynthetic and vegetatively reproducing organ during the growth. Daughter fronds which developed early in the mother frond were also chlorenchymatous, but they remained within foliage sheaths of the mother frond before separation from connecting stalks. Although the stalks and roots originated from the same meristematic region of the frond, they exhibited the distinct polarity showing former lateral growth and latter axial growth. Air chambers were formed only in the fronds and roots. Cellular components were scattered throughout the diffuse cytoplasm in most of the actively growing stalk cells. Root cells protected by the root cap demonstrated relatively complex organization, showing dense cytoplasm with Golgi, rER, mitochondria, and chloroplasts in the cortical cells. Cells in the root cap were highly vacuolated within the peripheral cytoplasm. Such reduction and differentiation of the plant body in Spirodela polyrhiza most effectively contributes to the better adaptation of smaller plants to superficial aquatic environments, while also enabling the rapid growth.