Maternal effects and embryo genetics: germination and dormancy of crop–wild sunflower hybrids

AbstractGene flow between agricultural crops and related wild plant populations can produce hybrids which differ significantly from their wild counterparts in many life history traits, including seed traits. Seeds from wild annuals often possess significant dormancy, while cultivated varieties have been selected to germinate immediately under favourable conditions. Consequently, the dormancy characteristics of crop–wild hybrids could influence their survival, seed-bank dynamics and, ultimately, the extent to which crop genes persist in wild populations. Dormancy characteristics can be influenced by both maternal effects, as well as the genetics of a seed's embryo, which are the result of contributions from both parents. Here we focus on how maternal effects and embryo genetics affect seed dormancy in crop–wild hybrid sunflowers (Helianthus annuus). Using three laboratory experiments, we quantified the germination and dormancy of 15 crop–wild hybrid sunflower cross types, while also identifying achene characteristics that may influence the differential germination observed. We found that increased frequencies of crop alleles and the maternal effects imparted by hybridization can reduce dormancy, though the effect of increased frequencies of crop alleles was more pronounced in wild- and F1-produced than in the crop-produced achenes. The more open pericarp of the crop-produced achenes and the shorter relative distance that their radicles had to travel to germinate may explain some of the observed maternal effects. Finally, we generated hypotheses about how these results could affect survival and crop gene introgression in the field.

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The bulb trade—a threat to wild plant populations

Oryx ◽

10.1017/s0030605300022833 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 23 (3) ◽

pp. 127-134 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Mike Read

Keyword(s):

International Trade ◽

Endangered Species ◽

Wild Plant ◽

Wild Populations ◽

Natural Habitats ◽

Plant Populations ◽

Wild Fauna ◽

In The Wild ◽

Garden Plants

Every year millions of bulbs, corms and tubers are being dug up in the wild to supply the market for garden plants. In many cases the level of exploitation is so high that it threatens some species with extinction in their natural habitats. Some have already been lost. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which has been so successful in controlling damaging trade in certain species of animals, has yet to address the bulb trade effectively. One of the difficulties to be overcome is assessing its true extent and its effect on wild populations. In 1987 the FFPS contracted its staff botanist, Mike Read, to investigate the trade in wild-collected plants in Turkey. The findings reported here point clearly to the need for further research, more legislation and the promotion of sustainable methods of propagation in the countries of origin.

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Maternal control of early life history traits affects overwinter survival and seedling phenotypes in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)

10.1101/2020.07.24.220517 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Fernando Hernández ◽

Roman B. Vercellino ◽

Ignacio Fanna ◽

Alejandro Presotto

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Maternal Effects ◽

Seedling Establishment ◽

Early Life ◽

Life History Traits ◽

Early Life History ◽

Wild Populations ◽

Overwinter Survival ◽

Seedling Traits ◽

Controlled Conditions

ABSTRACTWhen cultivated and wild plants hybridize, hybrids often show intermediate phenotypic traits relative to their parents, which make them unfit in natural environments. However, maternal genetic effects may affect the outcome of hybridization by controlling the expression of the earliest life history traits. Here, using wild, cultivated, and reciprocal crop-wild sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) hybrids, we evaluated the maternal effects on emergence timing and seedling establishment in the field, and on seedling traits under controlled conditions. In the field, we evaluated reciprocal crop-wild hybrids between two wild populations with contrasting dormancy (the high dormant BAR and the low dormant DIA) and one cultivar (CROP) with low dormancy. Under controlled conditions, we evaluated reciprocal crop-wild hybrids between two wild populations (BAR and RCU) and one CROP under three contrasting temperature treatments. In the field, BAR overwintered as dormant seeds whereas DIA and CROP showed high autumn emergence (∼50% of planted seeds), resulting in differential overwinter survival and seedling establishment in the spring. Reciprocal crop-wild hybrids resembled their female parents in emergence timing and success of seedling establishment. Under controlled conditions, we observed large maternal effects on most seedling traits across temperatures. Cotyledon size explained most of the variation in seedling traits, suggesting that the maternal effects on seed size have cascading effects on seedling traits. Maternal effects on early life history traits affect early plant survival and phenotypic variation of crop-wild hybrids, thus, they should be addressed in hybridization studies, especially those involving highly divergent parents like cultivated species and their wild ancestors.

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The Role Of Domestication And Maternal Effects On Sunflower Seed Traits

10.31988/scitrends.7236 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Fernando Hernández

Keyword(s):

Maternal Effects ◽

Sunflower Seed ◽

Seed Traits

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From Silent Spring to The Frog of War

10.1093/oso/9780198808978.003.0013 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

David K. Skelly

Keyword(s):

Natural History ◽

Laboratory Experiments ◽

Wild Populations ◽

Rachel Carson ◽

Chemical Agents ◽

Silent Spring ◽

The World ◽

History Information ◽

Wildlife Populations ◽

The Impact

This chapter presents two examples to demonstrate that natural history is the necessary basis of any reliable understanding of the world. More than a half century ago, Rachel Carson revolutionized the public’s view of pesticides. The foundation of her success was the careful use of natural history data, collated from across North America. The examples she assembled left little doubt that DDT and other pesticides were causing a widespread decline in birds. More recently, the case for the impact of atrazine on wildlife was based on laboratory experiments, without the advantage of natural history observations. For atrazine, natural history observations now suggest that other chemical agents are more likely to be responsible for feminization of wildlife populations. Developing expectations for scientists to collect natural history information can help to avoid over-extrapolating lab results to wild populations, a tendency often seen when those lab results conform to preconceptions about chemicals in the environment.

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Seed bank dynamics of the annual halophyte Salicornia ramosissima: towards a sustainable exploitation of its wild populations

Plant Ecology ◽

10.1007/s11258-021-01134-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 222 (5) ◽

pp. 647-657

Author(s):

Alejandro Polo ◽

Alba Fragoso ◽

María D. Infante-Izquierdo ◽

Francisco J. J. Nieva ◽

Adolfo F. Muñoz-Rodríguez ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Seed Bank ◽

Wild Populations ◽

Sustainable Exploitation ◽

Seed Bank Dynamics ◽

Salicornia Ramosissima

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EFFECTS OF COMPETITION ON THE FITNESS OF WILD AND CROP-WILD HYBRID SUNFLOWER FROM A DIVERSITY OF WILD POPULATIONS AND CROP LINES

Evolution ◽

10.1554/06-020.1 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 60 (10) ◽

pp. 2044 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Kristin L. Mercer ◽

Donald L. Wyse ◽

Ruth G. Shaw

Keyword(s):

Wild Populations ◽

Wild Hybrid ◽

Hybrid Sunflower

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From branch to bench: establishing wild spruce budworm populations into laboratory colonies for the exploration of local adaptation and plasticity

The Canadian Entomologist ◽

10.4039/tce.2021.1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 153 (3) ◽

pp. 374-390 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

K. Perrault ◽

A.A. Wardlaw ◽

J.N. Candau ◽

C.L. Irwin ◽

M. Demidovich ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Regional Variation ◽

Life History Traits ◽

Choristoneura Fumiferana ◽

Common Garden ◽

Spruce Budworm ◽

Population Differences ◽

Wild Populations ◽

Laboratory Colonies ◽

Common Garden Experiments ◽

Disease Free

AbstractSpruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), is a destructive defoliator found throughout the Nearctic boreal forest. This pest has a broad geographic range and shows regional variation in key life history traits. These population differences may represent important adaptations to local environmental conditions and reflect underlying genetic diversity. Existing laboratory colonies of spruce budworm do not capture this regional variation, so we established five new spruce budworm colonies from across its range to explore regional adaptations among spruce budworm populations within common garden experiments. We present methods for establishing new spruce budworm laboratory colonies from wild populations. We describe the process of flushing, rearing, and disease screening used on these new populations to produce healthy disease-free laboratory stocks.

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