Seasonal variation in reproductive traits in Ipomopsis longiflora (Polemoniaceae), a desert annual

2004 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-408
Author(s):  
Gretchen LeBuhn
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Variation ◽  
Chihuahuan Desert ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Allocation Of Resources ◽  
Flower Number ◽  
Evolutionary Forces ◽  
Ovule Number ◽  
Desert Annual ◽  
Evolution By Natural Selection ◽  
Efficiency Of Reproduction

Seasonal variation in reproductive traits is commonly documented in flowering plants. This variation is critical because it is the material for evolution by natural selection. Understanding the mechanisms that maintain that variation is important, because it can tell us about the ecological and evolutionary forces acting on populations. Using Ipomopsis longiflora (Torr.) V. Grant subsp. australis, a Chihuahuan desert annual that has two discrete flowering seasons, I studied the relative influence of seasonality, variation in the individuals present in the population, and prior reproduction on reproductive traits. I found that traits that represent the allocation of resources within a plant (ovule number, flower number, and flower size) were influenced by seasonality and the individuals present in the population, whereas traits that represent the efficiency of reproduction (seeds/ovule, fruits/flower, and seeds/fruit) were influenced only by seasonality.Key words: iteroparity, semelparity, efficiency, phenology.

Sex-allocation plasticity in hermaphrodites of sexually dimorphic Fragaria virginiana (Rosaceae)

Botany ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. 231-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric J. Bishop ◽  
Rachel B. Spigler ◽  
Tia-Lynn Ashman
Keyword(s):  
Sex Allocation ◽  
Seed Set ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Plant Size ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Flower Number ◽  
Fragaria Virginiana ◽  
Ovule Number ◽  
Indirect Consequence ◽  
Resource Gradient

Sex-allocation plasticity is thought to play an important role in the evolution of separate sexes in plants. Accordingly, much attention has been paid to environmentally induced variation in fruit and seed production in sexually dimorphic species, but we know little about whether this variation arises as a direct response to environmental variation or is instead an indirect consequence of changes in plant size. In this study, we characterize sex-allocation plasticity across a resource gradient for several reproductive traits in hermaphrodites of gyno(sub)dioecious Fragaria virginiana Duch. We find significant plasticity, on average, for flower number, proportion fruit set, ovule number, proportion seed set, and runner number in response to resource variation. Plasticity of most traits examined tended to be at least partially independent of variation in plant size, suggesting that it is not simply an indirect consequence of plant allometry. Moreover, we find genetic variation for plasticity of key reproductive traits. Comparisons of relative plasticities among traits reveal that F. virginiana hermaphrodites are more likely to adjust female investment via changes in fruit and seed set than ovule number, and most likely to adjust male investment via flower number rather than anther number or pollen per anther, although there is genotypic variation for plasticity in pollen per anther. Evidence of within-population variation can logically be extended to suggest that variation in hermaphrodite sex-expression seen among natural populations of F. virginiana may be due, at least in part, to sex-allocation plasticity.

scholarly journals Seasonal variation of reproductive traits of the caramote prawn in the Gulf of Tunis

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (2-4) ◽  
pp. 89-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hela Jaziri ◽  
Rosalia Ferreri ◽  
Widien Khoufi ◽  
Safouene El Fehri ◽  
Sadok Ben Meriem ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Variation ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Gulf Of Tunis

LIVESTOCK ACTIVITY AND CHIHUAHUAN DESERT ANNUAL-PLANT COMMUNITIES: BOUNDARY ANALYSIS OF DISTURBANCE GRADIENTS

1999 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 814-823 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maliha S. Nash ◽  
Walter G. Whitford ◽  
Amrita G. de Soyza ◽  
Justin W. Van Zee ◽  
Kris M. Havstad
Keyword(s):  
Plant Communities ◽  
Chihuahuan Desert ◽  
Annual Plant ◽  
Boundary Analysis ◽  
Desert Annual

Vegetative and reproductive variation among unisexual and hermaphroditic individuals of Wurmbea dioica (Colchicaceae)

2001 ◽  
Vol 49 (5) ◽  
pp. 603 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Jones ◽  
Martin Burd
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Investment Strategies ◽  
Statistical Control ◽  
Flower Number ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Whole Plant ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Fruit Mass

Hermaphroditism may constrain the effects of sex-specific selection on life history and reproductive traits. Wurmbea dioica in south-eastern Australia has populations with male, female and hermaphroditic plants, allowing an intraspecific comparison from which inferences may be made about the nature of evolutionary specialisation for each sexual function. We found that pistillate plants of W. dioica in a population in central Victoria were larger than male plants, but that males produced more and larger flowers. When comparing whole-plant means, males did not differ from hermaphrodites in pollen investment and females did not differ from hermaphrodites in fruit mass. However, when data for individual flowers were analysed with a statistical control for floral size, flowers of hermaphrodites had less investment in both pollen and fruit compared with flowers of the corresponding unisexual plants, implying that an intra-floral allocation trade-off occurs. Investment per flower in pollen had no apparent trade-off with flower number per plant, while fruit investment did show a significant relationship to flower number per plant, but the relationship was in different directions for females and hermaphrodites. Sex-specific selection has apparently favoured differentiation of investment strategies for males and females, while hermaphrodites reveal some morphological compromises that must be made to engage in both sexual functions.

scholarly journals Transcriptomes of plant gametophytes have a higher proportion of rapidly evolving and young genes than sporophytes

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toni I Gossmann ◽  
Dounia Saleh ◽  
Marc W Schmid ◽  
Michael A Spence ◽  
Karl J Schmid
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Pollen Competition ◽  
Significant Shift ◽  
Evolutionary Patterns ◽  
Protein Coding ◽  
Evolutionary Forces ◽  
Relationship Of

Reproductive traits in plants tend to evolve rapidly due to various causes that include plant-pollinator coevolution and pollen competition, but the genomic basis of reproductive trait evolution is still largely unknown. To characterise evolutionary patterns of genome wide gene expression in reproductive tissues in the gametophyte and to compare them to developmental stages of the sporophyte, we analysed evolutionary conservation and genetic diversity of protein-coding genes using microarray-based transcriptome data from three plant species,Arabidopsis thaliana, rice (Oryza sativa) and soybean (Glycine max). In all three species a significant shift in gene expression occurs during gametogenesis in which genes of younger evolutionary age and higher genetic diversity contribute significantly more to the transcriptome than in other stages. We refer to this phenomenon as ``evolutionary bulge'' during plant reproductive development because it differentiates the gametophyte from the sporophyte. We show that multiple, not mutually exclusive, causes may explain the bulge pattern, most prominently reduced tissue complexity of the gametophyte, a varying extent of selection on reproductive traits during gametogenesis as well as differences between male and female tissues. This highlights the importance of plant reproduction for understanding evolutionary forces determining the relationship of genomic and phenotypic variation in plants.

scholarly journals Variation in Reproductive Traits of Western Trailing Blackberry (Rubus ursinus) in the Pacific Northwest

HortScience ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 833F-833
Author(s):  
Angela K. Anderson ◽  
Chad E. Finn
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Cold Hardiness ◽  
Fruit Set ◽  
Fruit Size ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Genetic Distances ◽  
Flower Number ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Lateral Length

The superb flavor of trailing blackberry cultivars, such as `Marion', is derived from Rubus ursinus Cham. & Schlecht. Wild R. ursinus offer a range of horticulturally desirable traits to breeders, from high fruit quality to improved cold hardiness. Current cultivars are derived from relatively few sources of R. ursinus, selected primarily for fruiting characteristics. A replicated field trial of 460 clones, representing 20 populations from southern British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon, was established in 1994. Observations during the planting year have indicated that monitoring variability in the following reproductive traits will be useful in assessing diversity; budbreak, flowering, and fruiting date; lateral length; proportion of reproductive laterals; gender; flower and fruit number; and fruit size. In particular, there are clones that exhibit large fruit size (4 to 5 g), high flower number per lateral, and uniform fruit set. Analysis of these data will contribute to determination of relative genetic distances among the populations and enhance the understanding of the diversity available in R. ursinus.

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