Excess sterol accumulation affects seed morphology and physiology in Arabidopsis thaliana

Seed shape in the order Ranunculales is described with the objective of characterizing the morphological seed types in the families of this order and to establish a correlation between seed shape, plant structure and life style. Based on previous work in model plants (Arabidopsis thaliana, Lotus japonicus, Medicago truncatula), we have used the J index to estimate the percentage of similarity of the image of a seed with a geometric shape. The images of seeds of model plants resemble cardioid or cardioid-derived models, while seeds from other species with rapid life cycles resemble other, also simple geometrical figures. In general, seed shape may help establishing the relationships between taxonomic groups. Three types of seed morphology are distinguished in the Ranunculales based on values of J index. In the first type, seeds in the Berberidaceae, Euptelaceae and Lardizabalaceae, adjust well to an oval. The second type, seeds in the Papaveraceae, adjust well to the cardioid model, and the third type, seeds in the Ranunculaceae, adjust well to diverse geometric shapes, including the oval, truncated cardioid, Fibonacci spiral and ellipse. In the Ranunculales, seed shape is varied and often related to geometrical figures. The presence of cardioid derived models in the Papaveraceae supports our hypothesis that seeds resembling the cardioid are frequent in plants with rapid life cycles.Ranunculales

Download Full-text

Mapping Quantitative Trait Loci Affecting Arabidopsis thaliana Seed Morphology Features Extracted Computationally From Images

G3 Genes|Genome|Genetics ◽

10.1534/g3.112.003806 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 109-118 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Candace R Moore ◽

David S Gronwall ◽

Nathan D Miller ◽

Edgar P Spalding

Keyword(s):

Arabidopsis Thaliana ◽

Quantitative Trait Loci ◽

Quantitative Trait ◽

Recombinant Inbred ◽

Recombinant Inbred Lines ◽

Major Axis ◽

Seed Morphology ◽

Size And Shape ◽

Trait Loci ◽

Axis Length

Abstract Seeds are studied to understand dispersal and establishment of the next generation, as units of agricultural yield, and for other important reasons. Thus, elucidating the genetic architecture of seed size and shape traits will benefit basic and applied plant biology research. This study sought quantitative trait loci (QTL) controlling the size and shape of Arabidopsis thaliana seeds by computational analysis of seed phenotypes in recombinant inbred lines derived from the small-seeded Landsberg erecta × large-seeded Cape Verde Islands accessions. On the order of 103 seeds from each recombinant inbred line were automatically measured with flatbed photo scanners and custom image analysis software. The eight significant QTL affecting seed area explained 63% of the variation, and overlapped with five of the six major-axis (length) QTL and three of the five minor-axis (width) QTL, which accounted for 57% and 38% of the variation in those traits, respectively. Because the Arabidopsis seed is exalbuminous, lacking an endosperm at maturity, the results are relatable to embryo length and width. The Cvi allele generally had a positive effect of 2.6–4.0%. Analysis of variance showed heritability of the three traits ranged between 60% and 73%. Repeating the experiment with 2.2 million seeds from a separate harvest of the RIL population and approximately 0.5 million seeds from 92 near-isogenic lines confirmed the aforementioned results. Structured for download are files containing phenotype measurements, all sets of seed images, and the seed trait measuring tool.

Download Full-text