Atazadeh Neda, Ghahremaninejad Farrokh
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran.
Department of Plant Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran.
Microsc Res Tech. 2025 May;88(5):1422-1450. doi: 10.1002/jemt.24778. Epub 2025 Jan 9.
The Cardueae with about 74 genera and 2500 species is one of the largest tribes of the family Asteraceae. The taxonomy of the Cardueae is complicated and unresolved, as it contains the largest and most diverse genera. The main distribution centers of the Cardueae are in the eastern and western Mediterranean, the western Irano-Turanian region, central Asia, and North Africa. Using pollen morphology can be a useful tool for the identification and delimitation of Cardueae taxa. Therefore, the current study aims to describe the pollen types of tribe Cardueae based on pollen features. Furthermore, the study addresses the relationships among the genera and species based on palynological features as well as species delimitation based on pollen morphology. Pollen morphology of 39 species of Cardueae distributed in 28 genera was examined by scanning electron microscopy. In the present study, statistical analyses and various clustering and ordination methods were provided for palynological data. Based on these results, the members of nine subtribes of Cardueae showed overlap in palynological data. This extreme heterogeneity of relationships among the taxa of tribe Cardueae could be attributed to the large number of taxa and their high morphological diversity. However, suitable palynological features were distinguished for taxonomic differentiation among the species of Cardueae, including pollen shape, size, polar axis to equatorial diameter ratio [P/E], exine sculpture, and spine size. Consequently, six pollen types were identified in the studied taxa of Cardueae.
菊科菜蓟族约有74属2500种，是菊科最大的族之一。菜蓟族的分类复杂且尚未解决，因为它包含了最大且最多样化的属。菜蓟族的主要分布中心在地中海东部和西部、伊朗 - 图兰西部地区、中亚和北非。利用花粉形态学可以成为鉴定和划分菜蓟族分类群的有用工具。因此，本研究旨在基于花粉特征描述菜蓟族的花粉类型。此外，该研究还基于孢粉学特征探讨了属与种之间的关系以及基于花粉形态学的物种划分。通过扫描电子显微镜检查了分布于28个属的39种菜蓟族物种的花粉形态。在本研究中，为孢粉学数据提供了统计分析以及各种聚类和排序方法。基于这些结果，菜蓟族九个亚族的成员在孢粉学数据上存在重叠。菜蓟族分类群之间这种极端的异质性可能归因于分类群数量众多及其形态高度多样。然而，在菜蓟族物种之间的分类鉴别中区分出了合适的孢粉学特征，包括花粉形状、大小、极轴与赤道直径比[P/E]、外壁纹饰和刺的大小。因此，在所研究的菜蓟族分类群中鉴定出了六种花粉类型。
