Floral development and the formation of unisexual spikelets in the Andropogoneae (Poaceae)

We investigated spikelet development in four distantly related species of the grass tribe Andropogoneae to determine whether spikelet development and the formation of unisexual florets are uniform throughout the tribe. We studied development in Bothriochloa bladhii, Coelorachis aurita, Heteropogon contortus, and Hyparrhenia hirta, and compared these with Panicum, a member of the sister tribe Paniceae. Many aspects of spikelet development in the species we have studied correlate with what is already known for Tripsacum and maize (both Andropogoneae), despite variation in how unisexual florets are distributed on the plant. The formation of unisexual spikelets is also uniform. All florets initiate both pistil and stamen primordia. In florets destined to be male, cell death occurs in the subepidermal layers of the gynoccium after the formation of a gynoecial ridge. In florets destined to be female, there is no apparent cell death in the stamens, but growth ceases after anther formation. The similarity in spikelet development and the formation of unisexual florets point to a common genetic mechanism for sex determination throughout the Andropogoneae and possibly the entire Panicoideae. Use of a cell death pathway to cause gynoecial abortion may be the basis of one morphological character that defines the subfamily.