Lipids, proteins and sugars in spores of <I>Cyathea delgadii</I> Sterns., <I>Polypodium latipes</I> Langs. & Fisch and <I>Trichipteris corcovadensis</I> (Raddi) Copel

Abstract

Cyathea delgadii and Trichipteris corcovadensis occur in the wet forest of Serra do Mar. The spores of these two species were collected in the Reserva Biológica do Parque Estadual das Fontes do Ipiranga, Sao Paulo. Polypodium latipes occurs in "cerrado", the savannah-like type of vegetation of Brazil, and the spores were collected in Moji-Guagu,S.P.. The content of free lipids, soluble proteins and total soluble ugars was determined in spores of these three species. Lipids are responsible for about 50% of the weight of the spores in the three species. Germination was fast and high in C. delgadii and P. latipes and very low in T. corcovadensis in the samples used in this work. The contents in protein and sugars were similar for the two species from the wet forest. Spores of P. latipes collected in the cerrado presented much higher levels of sugars and protein than spores from C. delgadii and T. corcovadensis.