The Influence of Perenniality and Seed Banks on Polymorphism in Plant-Parasite Interactions

Microshoot and callus cultures of Cornus florida (flowering dogwood), which were grown on woody plant medium amended with BA, were inoculated with Microsphaera pulchra (an obligate plant parasite) by gently shaking infected leaves bearing numerous conidia over the tissue. Culture dishes were sealed with parafilm and incubated at 24 °C with 25 mol·m–2·s–1 provided by cool fluorescent bulbs for 15 h. Cultures were examined with a dissecting scope every 24 h and cultures transferred when contaminating fungi were present. Specimens were prepared light microscopy and SEM. The fungus infected individual callus cells, but did not sporulate. In contrast, powdery mildew was well-established (both primary and secondary hyphae) in 70% of the microshoot cultures after 6 days and sporulated on 20% by 7 to 8 days. The cellular relationship between host and pathogen in vitro was similar to that found in greenhouse-grown plants. This technique has possible applications in maintaining fungal culture collections and studying host–pathogen relationships under more stringently controlled conditions.

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Effect of period of sugarcane cultivation on the abundance and distribution of weed seeds in the soil profile

Planta Daninha ◽

10.1590/s0100-83582014000300006 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 32 (3) ◽

pp. 507-513

Author(s):

R.O. Adereti ◽

F.O Takim ◽

Y.A. Abayomi

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Soil Depth ◽

Seed Banks ◽

Soil Samples ◽

Soil Tillage ◽

Fallow Period ◽

Tillage Practices ◽

Weed Seeds ◽

Seed Distribution ◽

Screen House

An experiment was laid down in a screen house to determine the distribution of weed seeds at different soil depths and periods of cultivation of sugarcane in Ilorin, Nigeria. Soil samples from different depth levels (0-10 cm, 11-20 cm and 21-30 cm) were collected after harvesting of canes from three different land use fields (continuous sugarcane cultivation for > 20 years, continuous sugarcane cultivation for < 10 years after long fallow period and continuous sugarcane cultivation for < 5 years after long fallow period) in November, 2012. One kilogram of the sieved composite soil samples was arranged in the screen house and watered at alternate days. Germinating weed seedlings were identified, counted and then pulled out for the period of 8 months. Land use and soil depth had a highly significant (p £ 0.05) effect on the total number of weeds that emerged from the soil samples. The 010 cm of the soil depth had the highest weed seedlings that emerged. There was an equal weed seed distribution at the 11-20 cm and 21-30 cm depths of the soil. Sugarcane fields which have been continuously cultivated for a long period of time with highly disturbing soil tillage practices tend to have larger seed banks in deeper soil layers (11-20 cm and 21-30 cm) while recently opened fields had significantly larger seed banks at the 0-10 cm soil sampling depth.

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Classification of Post-Fire Responses of Woody Plants to include Pyrophobic Communities

Fire ◽

10.3390/fire3020015 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 15 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Lynda D. Prior ◽

David M. J. S. Bowman

Keyword(s):

Woody Plants ◽

Seed Banks ◽

Classification Systems ◽

Woody Vegetation ◽

General Category ◽

Conifer Species ◽

Soil Seed Banks ◽

Obligate Seeder ◽

In Fire

Developing standardised classification of post-fire responses is essential for globally consistent comparisons of woody vegetation communities. Existing classification systems are based on responses of species growing in fire-prone environments. To accommodate species that occur in rarely burnt environments, we have suggested some important points of clarification to earlier schemes categorizing post-fire responses. We have illustrated this approach using several Australasian conifer species as examples of pyrophobic species. In particular, we suggest using the term “obligate seeder” for the general category of plants that rely on seed to reproduce, and qualifying this to “post-fire obligate seeder” for the narrower category of species with populations that recover from canopy fire only by seeding; the species are typically fire-cued, with large aerial or soil seed banks that germinate profusely following a fire, and grow and reproduce rapidly in order to renew the seed bank before the next fire.

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Effect of different treatments on the seed bank of grazed and ungrazed Baltic seashore meadows

Canadian Journal of Botany ◽

10.1139/b98-102 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 76 (7) ◽

pp. 1188-1197 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Heli M. Jutila b. Erkkilä

Keyword(s):

Seed Bank ◽

Brackish Water ◽

Salt Water ◽

Tap Water ◽

Cold Treatment ◽

Abundant Species ◽

Seed Banks ◽

The West ◽

Pesticide Treatment ◽

Juncus Gerardii

Seed banks of two seashore meadows were studied on the west coast of Finland (latitude 61°30'-61°33'N, longitude 21°28'-21°41'E). Samples were taken in June to a depth of 10 cm in the geolittoral zone of the grazed and ungrazed transects. The grazed samples were halved lengthwise: one half was grown immediately, the other after cold treatment. One third of the all samples was treated as controls, one third was watered with brackish water, and one third was given a pesticide treatment. Altogether, 13 926 seedlings germinated and 25 species were identified (three annuals, two biennials, and the rest perennials). Most seedlings were perennial monocots, with Juncus gerardii Loisel. the most abundant species. The seed bank was significantly larger and richer in the ungrazed site than in the grazed site. Cold treatment reduced the number of germinating species and seedlings. In the grazed and non-cold-treated samples, the numbers of species and seedlings were highest in the pesticide treatment. In ungrazed samples there were no significant differences among treatments. After the cold treatment, the least number of species and seedlings was produced by the salt-water treatment. Changing brackish water to tap water led to a burst of germination, especially of J. gerardii. The seed bank of the upper geolittoral zone was richer than that of the middle geolittoral. The multivariate classification and ordination groupings are based on the abundances of J. gerardii and Glaux maritima L.; different treatments were not distinguishable. There was a low resemblance between the seed bank and the aboveground vegetation.Key words: seed bank, salinity, pesticide, seashore meadow, cold treatment, vegetation.

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Soil seed banks and the effects of meadow management on vegetation change in a 10-year meadow field trial

Journal of Applied Ecology ◽

10.1046/j.1365-2664.2002.00715.x ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 39 (2) ◽

pp. 279-293 ◽

Cited By ~ 63

Author(s):

R.S. Smith ◽

R.S. Shiel ◽

D. Millward ◽

P. Corkhill ◽

R.A. Sanderson

Keyword(s):

Field Trial ◽

Vegetation Change ◽

Seed Banks ◽

Soil Seed Banks

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Seed production and seedling emergence of Giant Parramatta grass on the north coast of New South Wales

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture ◽

10.1071/ea9960299 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 36 (3) ◽

pp. 299 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

TS Andrews ◽

RDB Whalley ◽

CE Jones

Keyword(s):

Seed Production ◽

Seed Bank ◽

New South ◽

New South Wales ◽

Seed Banks ◽

North Coast ◽

The North ◽

South Wales ◽

Seed Fall ◽

The Impact

Inputs and losses from Giant Parramatta grass [GPG, Sporobolus indicus (L.) R. Br. var. major (Buse) Baaijens] soil seed banks were quantified on the North Coast of New South Wales. Monthly potential seed production and actual seed fall was estimated at Valla during 1991-92. Total potential production was >668 000 seeds/m2 for the season, while seed fall was >146000 seeds/m2. Seed fall >10000 seeds/m2.month was recorded from January until May, with further seed falls recorded in June and July. The impact of seed production on seed banks was assessed by estimating seed banks in the seed production quadrats before and after seed fall. Seed banks in 4 of the 6 sites decreased in year 2, although seed numbers at 1 damp site increased markedly. Defoliation from mid-December until February, April or June prevented seed production, reducing seed banks by 34% over 7 months. Seed banks in undefoliated plots increased by 3300 seeds/m2, although seed fall was estimated at >114 000 seeds/m2. Emergence of GPG seedlings from artificially established and naturally occurring, persistent seed banks was recorded for 3 years from bare and vegetated treatment plots. Sown seeds showed high levels of innate dormancy and only 4% of seeds emerged when sown immediately after collection. Longer storage of seeds after collection resulted in more seedlings emerging. Estimates of persistent seed banks ranged from 1650 to about 21260 seeds/m2. Most seedlings emerged in spring or autumn and this was correlated with rainfall but not with ambient temperatures. Rates of seed bank decline in both bare and vegetated treatment plots was estimated by fitting exponential decay curves to seed bank estimates. Assuming no further seed inputs, it was estimated that it would take about 3 and 5 years, respectively, for seed banks to decline to 150 seeds/m2 in bare and vegetated treatments.

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Principles of seed banks and the emergence of complexity from dormancy

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-021-24733-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Jay T. Lennon ◽

Frank den Hollander ◽

Maite Wilke-Berenguer ◽

Jochen Blath

Keyword(s):

Global Change ◽

Metabolic Activity ◽

Cancer Biology ◽

Life Sciences ◽

Seed Banks ◽

Tree Of Life ◽

Multi Scale ◽

Emergent Phenomena ◽

Scale Structures ◽

Emergence Of Complexity

AbstractAcross the tree of life, populations have evolved the capacity to contend with suboptimal conditions by engaging in dormancy, whereby individuals enter a reversible state of reduced metabolic activity. The resulting seed banks are complex, storing information and imparting memory that gives rise to multi-scale structures and networks spanning collections of cells to entire ecosystems. We outline the fundamental attributes and emergent phenomena associated with dormancy and seed banks, with the vision for a unifying and mathematically based framework that can address problems in the life sciences, ranging from global change to cancer biology.

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