scholarly journals The Patterns of Male and Female Flowers in Flowering Stage May Not Be Optimal Resource Allocation for Fruit and Seed Growth

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 2819
Author(s):  
Lei Gao ◽  
Guozhu Yu ◽  
Fangyu Hu ◽  
Zhiqi Li ◽  
Weihua Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Resource Allocation ◽  
Sex Differentiation ◽  
Nutrient Supply ◽  
Fruit Weight ◽  
Flowering Stage ◽  
Optimal Resource Allocation ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Optimal Resource ◽  
Male Flowers ◽  
Female Flowers

Changes in the proportions of male and female flowers in monoecious plants in response to external environmental conditions are directly related to the reproductive fitness of plants. The monoecious cucumber (Cucumber sativus) plant was used in this study to assess the responses of sex differentiation and the breeding process to nutrient supply and the degree of artificial pollination using pollen solutions of different concentrations. We found that the nutrient supply significantly improved the number of female flowers, while pollination treatments did not obviously increase the number of male flowers. Continuous pollination changed the number of female flowers especially in the later stage of the pollination experiment. Therefore, pollination changed the ratio of male and female flowers in the flowering stage of cucumber. Pollination treatment affected the fruit growth, seed set, and fruit yield. The number of fruit, fruit set percentage, and total seeds per plant did not increase with the pollination level, but individual fruit weight and seed number in one fruit did increase. The differentiation of male and female flowers in the flowering stage of cucumber is a response to nutrient and pollination resources, but this response is not the optimal resource allocation for subsequent fruit development and seed maturity, which suggests that the response of plants to external environment resources is short-term and direct.

scholarly journals Are matching patterns of male and female flowers in response to nutrient supply and pollen concentration optimal for fruit and seed growth?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Gao ◽  
Jun Jie Zhai ◽  
Guo Zhu Yu ◽  
Wei Hua Li ◽  
Chang Lian Peng
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differentiation ◽  
Nutrient Supply ◽  
Fruit Weight ◽  
Cucumber Plant ◽  
Seed Formation ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Seed Growth ◽  
Male Flowers ◽  
Nutrient Resources ◽  
Female Flowers

Abstract Background: Changes in the proportions of male and female flowers in monoecious plants in response to external environmental conditions are directly related to the reproductive fitness of plants. The monoecious cucumber plant was used in this study to assess the responses of sex differentiation and the breeding process to nutrient supply and the degree of artificial pollination using pollen solutions of different concentrations. Results: We found that the nutrient supply significantly increased the number of female flowers, although the number of female flowers did not increase with the strength of the pollination. The number of male flowers did not decrease even under the low nutrient concentration; consequently, the matching pattern of male and female flowers reflects the response of plants to nutrients and nutrient resources during flowering stage. Pollination treatment affected the fruit growth, seed set, and fruit yield. However, the number of fruit, fruit set percentage, and total seeds per plant did not increase with the pollination level, although individual fruit weight and seed number in one fruit did increase. Conclusions: It is concluded that the response of cucumber flowering to external factors is direct and instantaneous, and this matching pattern of male and female flowers may not be optimal for fruit development and seed formation. Keywords: Cucumber, Plant fitness, Sex differentiation, Monoecious, Pollen resource

scholarly journals Are patterns of flower differentiation in response to nutrient supply and pollen concentration optimal for fruit and seed growth?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Gao ◽  
Jun Jie Zhai ◽  
Guo Zhu Yu ◽  
Wei Hua Li ◽  
Chang Lian Peng
Keyword(s):  
Seed Set ◽  
Sex Differentiation ◽  
Nutrient Supply ◽  
Fruit Weight ◽  
Fruit Growth ◽  
Cucumber Plant ◽  
Seed Formation ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Male Flowers ◽  
Female Flowers

Abstract Background Changes in the proportions of male and female flowers in monoecious plants in response to external environmental conditions are directly related to the reproductive fitness of plants. The monoecious cucumber plant was used in this study to assess the responses of sex differentiation and the breeding process to nutrient supply and the degree of artificial pollination using pollen solutions of different concentrations. Results We found that the nutrient supply significantly increased the number of female flowers after pollination, although the number of female flowers did not increase with the concentration of the pollination solution. The number of male flowers did not decrease even under the low nutrient concentration; consequently, the optimal benefits under different nutrient and pollen resources in the environment were maximized when the number of female flowers decreased due to low nutrient levels after pollination. Pollination treatment affected the fruit growth, seed set, and fruit yield. However, the number of fruit, fruit set percentage, and total seeds per plant did not increase with the pollination level, although the fruit weight and seed number in one fruit did increase. The trade-offs for cucumbers associated with flower differentiation with respect to nutrient supply and pollination may not be optimal for fruit growth or seed set. Conclusions It is concluded that the response of plant flowering to external factors is direct and instantaneous, and there may not be an overall and long-term resource allocation for fruit development and seed formation.

scholarly journals Size-dependent sex allocation in Solanum lycocarpum St. Hil. (Solanaceae)

2022 ◽  
Vol 82 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. F. Coelho ◽  
A. G. Damasceno ◽  
A. Fávaro ◽  
G. S. Teodoro ◽  
L. P. Langsdorff
Keyword(s):  
Resource Allocation ◽  
Sex Allocation ◽  
Plant Size ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Size Dependent ◽  
Female Function ◽  
Plant Group ◽  
Optimal Resource ◽  
Sex Allocation Theory ◽  
Male Flowers

Abstract Resource allocation to reproduction can change depending on size, as predicted by the size-dependent sex allocation. This theory is based on the fact that small individuals will invest in the allocation of sex with lower cost of production, usually male gender. In plants, there are some andromonoecy species, presence of hermaphrodite and male flowers in the same individual. Andromonoecy provides a strategy to optimally allocate resources to male and female function, evolving a reproductive energy-saving strategy. Thus, our objective was to investigate the size-dependent sex allocation in Solanum lycocarpum St. Hil. We tested the hypothesis that plants with larger size will invest in the production of hermaphrodite flowers, because higher individuals have greater availability of resources to invest in more complex structures involving greater energy expenditure. The studied species was S. lycocarpum, an andromonoecious species. From June 2016 to March 2017 the data were collected in 38 individuals, divided in two groups: the larger plant group (n=18; height=3-5 m) and the smaller plant group (n=20; height=1-2 m).Our data show that there was effect of plant size on the flower production and the sexual gender allocation. The larger plants showed more flowers and higher production of hermaphrodite flowers. Furthermore, in the flower scale, we observed allometric relationship among the flower’s traits with proportional investments in biomass, anther size and gynoecium size. Our results are in agreement with size-dependent sex allocation theory and andromonoecy hypothesis related to mechanisms for optimal resource allocation to male and female function.

The effects of date pollinizer variety and pollination time on fruit set and yield of Medjhol date palm

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdoul Amir Rahnama ◽  
Esmaeil Rahkhodaei
Keyword(s):  
Date Palm ◽  
Fruit Set ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Male Flower ◽  
Fruit Weight ◽  
Palm Fruit ◽  
Tropical Fruit ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Time Interaction ◽  
Female Flowers

Date palm is unisexual, being either male or female. Male and female flowers grow on buds called Spathe, which opens naturally when fully mature. It is easy to identify the male and female flowers. Under the method of manual pollination, pollen from a male flower is smeared over female flowers. The pollen variety and pollination time have important effects on date palm fruit set, yield and quality. This experiment was carried out to study the effect of date pollinizer variety and pollination time on fruit set, growth and development of Medjhol date palm variety, in date palm garden of date palm and tropical fruit research institute of Iran during three years from 2009 to 2011. The trail was randomized complete block design in factorial manner with three pollen variety as Ghaname, Vardy, and Samesmave, two pollination time as 1-3 days before or after spathe opening and four replication. The results showed that the Vardy pollen had significant effects and increased the fertility percent and fruit yield, rather than two other pollen varieties. The pollen variety had no significant effects on fruit quality as total sugar, acidity, and bricx. The pollination time before spathe opening significantly increased fertility percent, decreased fruit weight and date palm yield. Finally the pollen variety and pollination time interaction effects showed that, application of Vardy pollen from 1-3 days after spathe opening with the most production date palm yield, equal 19.9 kilogram per any date palm trees, so this treatment is the best and are recommended.

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