Taxonomic significance of seed sculpture and pollen ecto-mycoflora at the infraspecific level: Brassica tournefortii case study

Several populations of Brassica tournefortii (Brassicaceae) occurring in Egypt are investigated from the micromorphological point of view (seed ornamentations). The species is known to show a notable phenotypic plasticity and five morphotypes was identified in the past. Furthermore, a soil analysis as well as a study of the fungal species from anthers were carried out. The aim of the study is to verify the taxonomic value of the morpholotypes of B. tournefortii and their ecologic relationship with soil variables. The results obtained demonstrated that the five morphological forms can be distinguished based on the seed sculpture. The Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) exhibited a clear correlation between the soil variables and the identified forms. Six species of fungi were detected from the ecto-anthers in the Forms (F2-F4), while F1 was lacking the fungal species. The study revealed that the morphological plasticity of studied B. tournefortii depends on ecological factors.