Open Access

ARTICLE

Leaf blade anatomy and ultrastructure of six Simira species (Rubiaceae) from the Atlantic Rain Forest, Brazil

TARSILA MARIA DA SILVA MORAES¹, CLAUDIA FRANCA BARROS², SEBASTIÃO JOSÉ DA SILVA NETO³, VALDIRENE MOREIRA GOMES⁴, MAURA DA CUNHA^1*

1. Laboratório de Biologia Celular e Tecidual, Centro de Biociências e Biotecnologia, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil.
2. Laboratório de Botânica Estrutural, Programa Mata Atlântica, Diretoria de Pesquisas, Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
3. Programa Mata Atlântica – Diretoria de Pesquisas, Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
4. Laboratório de Fisiologia e Bioquímica de Microrganismos, Centro de Biociências e Biotecnologia, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil.
* Address correspondence to: Maura Da Cunha. E-mail: maura@uenf.br

BIOCELL 2009, 33(3), 155-165. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2009.33.155

Abstract

Simira is a predominantly woody Neotropical genus comprising 41 taxa, 16 of which occur in Brazil and eight of them in the southeastern region of Brazil. Leaf blades of Simira eliezeriana Peixoto, S. glaziovii (K. Schum.) Steyerm., S. grazielae Peixoto, S. pikia (K. Schum.) Steyerm., S. rubra (Mart.) Steyerm., S. sampaioana (Standl.) Steyerm. were collected in the southeastern region of Brazil and fixed according to usual methods for light and electron microscopy. The leaf blades show typical characteristics of the Rubiaceae family as dorsiventral mesophyll and paracytic stomata. The presence of two bundle sheaths that extend to the upper epidermal layer, prismatic crystal and crystal-sand, alkaloids in the mesophyll and the organization micromorphological of the outer periclinal wall are considered characteristics representative for the genus. This study also demonstrates some leaf blade characteristics that can be used to Simira species identification (leaf surface, domatia types, epicuticular wax types and patterns of epidermis anticlinal cell walls).

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