{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]],"date-time":"2026-09-21T21:56:30Z","timestamp":1790027790009,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"PeerJ","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,2]],"date-time":"2025-01-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1735776000000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004735","name":"Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["2022JJ30997"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022JJ30997"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004735","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"Science and Technology Innovation Program for Graduate Students of Central South Forestry University of Science and Technology","award":["2023CX02050"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023CX02050"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n<jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Many plants, including those commonly found in the Fagaceae family, produce more flowers and ovules than mature fruits and seeds. In <jats:italic>Castanea henryi<\/jats:italic>, an ovary contains 16\u201324 ovules, but only one develops into a seed. The other ovules abort or otherwise fail to fully develop, but the reason for this is unknown. Such a strict reproductive screening mechanism is rare in plants.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>In this study, controlled pollination scheme were adopted, and conventional paraffin embedding and semi-thin sectioning techniques, followed by microscopy, were used for cytological studies of ovule development in <jats:italic>C. henryi<\/jats:italic>.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Pollination affected not only the process of ovule development, but also the proportion of ovules that formed mature embryo sacs. Approximately 53.53% of the ovules in the pollinated treatment developed normally, while only 16.55% of the ovules in the unpollinated treatment developed into mature embryo sacs with a seven-cell, eight-nucleated structure. Failure to form mature embryo sacs and the abnormal divisions of the zygote, respectively, were the reasons for the pre- and post-fertilization ovule failures. Our findings not only provide basic information on the reproductive biology and also information on seed production of <jats:italic>C. henryi<\/jats:italic>.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.7717\/peerj.18711","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,2]],"date-time":"2025-01-02T08:58:42Z","timestamp":1735808322000},"page":"e18711","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Basis of single-seed formation in chestnut: cytomorphological observations reveal ovule developmental patterns of <i>Castanea henryi<\/i>"],"prefix":"10.7717","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Qi","family":"Qiu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Cultivation and Protection for Non-Wood Forest Trees, Ministry of Education, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, Hunan Province, China"},{"name":"Key Laboratory of Non-Wood Forest Products of State Forestry Administration, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, Hunan, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaoming","family":"Tian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hunan Botanical Garden, Changsha, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Guolong","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Cultivation and Protection for Non-Wood Forest Trees, Ministry of Education, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, Hunan Province, China"},{"name":"Key Laboratory of Non-Wood Forest Products of State Forestry Administration, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, Hunan, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Juntao","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Cultivation and Protection for Non-Wood Forest Trees, Ministry of Education, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, Hunan Province, China"},{"name":"Key Laboratory of Non-Wood Forest Products of State Forestry Administration, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, Hunan, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Deyi","family":"Yuan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Cultivation and Protection for Non-Wood Forest Trees, Ministry of Education, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, Hunan Province, China"},{"name":"Key Laboratory of Non-Wood Forest Products of State Forestry Administration, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, Hunan, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1633-0843","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Xiaoming","family":"Fan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Cultivation and Protection for Non-Wood Forest Trees, Ministry of Education, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, Hunan Province, China"},{"name":"Key Laboratory of Non-Wood Forest Products of State Forestry Administration, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, Hunan, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"4443","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,2]]},"reference":[{"issue":"6","key":"10.7717\/peerj.18711\/ref-1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"721","DOI":"10.1002\/ppp3.10203","article-title":"Insight into the genetic contribution of maximum yield potential, spikelet development and abortion in barley","volume":"3","author":"Alqudah","year":"2021","journal-title":"Plants, People, Planet"},{"issue":"6","key":"10.7717\/peerj.18711\/ref-2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"347","DOI":"10.1007\/s004970050162","article-title":"Sexual reproduction in the cork oak (Quercus suber L.). 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