Blepharoplast Morphology in Treubia tasmanica (Hepaticae: Treubiales)

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Abstract
Detailed ultrastructural analysis and diagrammatic representation of the blepharoplast in Treubia tasmanica reveal a morphology strongly resembling that reported for Haplomitrium. The major distinguishing features common to both include: 1) A very wide spline (with up to 104 microtubules, Treubia's spline is the widest reported for any bryophyte); 2) a spline aperture of the open type; 3) the aperture located on the left side of the spline midline; 4) the anterior basal body located on the left of the spline midline; 5) the left-divergent orientation of the anterior basal body; and 6) nearly total overlap between the anterior and posterior basal bodies. These same six characters exhibit sharply contrasting expressions in the three metzgerialian representatives similarly analyzed. The evidence presented for Treubia further supports the isolated position of the group and its elevation to ordinal rank. It also reveals an important affinity with the calobryalian line.