Evolution of Inflorescence Design: Theory and Data

Fishbein, Mark; Venable, D. Lawrence

doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.1996.tb03607.x

Cited by 58 publications

(50 citation statements)

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“…Much less is known about the evolutionary ecology of floral displays despite their fundamental role in pollinator attraction and mating success (Schoen & Dubuc 1990;Fishbein & Venable 1996;Harder & Barrett 1996). Moreover, functional interactions among flowers, inflorescences and plant architecture have rarely been considered (but see Diggle 1997;Bond & Maze 1999).…”

Section: Beyond the Outcrossing-selfing Paradigmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mating strategies in flowering plants: the outcrossing–selfing paradigm and beyond

Barrett

2003

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B

427

356

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Comparisons of the causes and consequences of cross-and self-fertilization have dominated research on plant mating since Darwin's seminal work on plant reproduction. Here, I provide examples of these accomplishments, but also illustrate new approaches that emphasize the role of floral design and display in pollen dispersal and fitness gain through male function. Wide variation in outcrossing rate characterizes animal-pollinated plants. In species with large floral displays, part of the selfing component of mixed mating can arise from geitonogamy and be maladaptive because of strong inbreeding depression and pollen discounting. Floral strategies that separate the benefits of floral display from the mating costs associated with geitonogamy can resolve these conflicts by reducing lost mating opportunities through male function. The results from experiments with marker genes and floral manipulations provide evidence for the function of herkogamy and dichogamy in reducing self-pollination and promoting pollen dispersal. Evidence is also presented indicating that increased selfing resulting from changes to floral design, or geitonogamy in large clones, can act as a stimulus for the evolution of dioecy. The scope of future research on mating strategies needs to be broadened to include investigations of functional links among flowers, inflorescences and plant architecture within the framework of life-history evolution.

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Section: Beyond the Outcrossing-selfing Paradigmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mating strategies in flowering plants: the outcrossing–selfing paradigm and beyond

Barrett

2003

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B

427

356

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“…Subspecies xantiana always had more flowers because it is both a more robust plant and may have experienced pollinator selection for larger floral displays (Table 2B; Schoen and Dubuc 1990;Fishbein and Venable 1996). Conversely, seed set was always higher in ssp.…”

Section: Fitness Componentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES OF ADAPTATION IN clarkia xantiana:II. FITNESS VARIATION ACROSS A SUBSPECIES BORDER

Geber

Eckhart

2005

Evolution

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Abstract. Because the range boundary is the locale beyond which a taxon fails to persist, it provides a unique opportunity for studying the limits on adaptive evolution. Adaptive constraints on range expansion are perplexing in view of widespread ecotypic differentiation by habitat and region within a species' range (regional adaptation) and rapid evolutionary response to novel environments. In this study of two parapatric subspecies, Clarkia xantiana ssp. xantiana and C. x. ssp. parviflora, we compared the fitness of population transplants within their native region, in a non-native region within the native range, and in the non-native range to assess whether range expansion might be limited by a greater intensity of selection on colonists of a new range versus a new region within the range. The combined range of the two subspecies spans a west-to-east gradient of declining precipitation in the Sierra Nevada of California, with ssp. xantiana in the west being replaced by ssp. parviflora in the east. Both subspecies had significantly higher fitness in the native range (range adaptation), whereas regional adaptation was weak and was found only in the predominantly outcrossing ssp. xantiana but was absent in the inbreeding ssp. parviflora. Because selection intensity on transplants was much stronger in the non-native range relative to non-native regions, there is a larger adaptive barrier to range versus regional expansion. Three of five sequential fitness components accounted for regional and range adaptation, but only one of them, survivorship from germination to flowering, contributed to both. Flower number contributed to regional adaptation in ssp. xantiana and fruit set (number of fruits per flower) to range adaptation. Differential survivorship of the two taxa or regional populations of ssp. xantiana in non-native environments was attributable, in part, to biotic interactions, including competition, herbivory, and pollination. For example, low fruit set in ssp. xantiana in the east was likely due to the absence of its principal specialist bee pollinators in ssp. parviflora's range. Thus, convergence on self-fertilization may be necessary for ssp. xantiana to invade ssp. parviflora's range, but the evolution of outcrossing would not be required for ssp. parviflora to invade ssp. xantiana's range.

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“…Changes in the timing of reproduction and in branch morphology can have important ecological and fitness consequences (Schoen and Dubuc, 1990;Diggle, 1995;Fishbein and Venable, 1996;Stowe et al, 2000;Schippers et al, 2001). For example, changes in developmental rates may affect age-related resistance, which is typically seen as an increase in the resistance of plants with development.…”

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confidence: 99%

A Developmental Response to Pathogen Infection in Arabidopsis

2003

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We present evidence that susceptible Arabidopsis plants accelerate their reproductive development and alter their shoot architecture in response to three different pathogen species. We infected 2-week-old Arabidopsis seedlings with two bacterial pathogens, Pseudomonas syringae and Xanthomonas campestris, and an oomycete, Peronospora parasitica. Infection with each of the three pathogens reduced time to flowering and the number of aerial branches on the primary inflorescence. In the absence of competition, P. syringae and P. parasitica infection also increased basal branch development. Flowering time and branch responses were affected by the amount of pathogen present. Large amounts of pathogen caused the most dramatic changes in the number of branches on the primary inflorescence, but small amounts of P. syringae caused the fastest flowering and the production of the most basal branches. RPS2 resistance prevented large changes in development when it prevented visible disease symptoms but not at high pathogen doses and when substantial visible hypersensitive response occurred. These experiments indicate that phylogenetically disparate pathogens cause similar changes in the development of susceptible Arabidopsis. We propose that these changes in flowering time and branch architecture constitute a general developmental response to pathogen infection that may affect tolerance of and/or resistance to disease.One way that plants can respond to pathogen infection is through an induced resistance response called R gene resistance. When a plant has an R gene that confers resistance to an infecting pathogen, the plant initiates extensive biochemical and structural defense mechanisms, including the production of phytoalexins and pathogenesis-related proteins, the strengthening of cell walls, local cell death, and systemic acquired resistance (Dangl and Jones, 2001). Plants that are "susceptible," i.e. do not have R gene resistance to a particular pathogen strain, exhibit many defenses similar to R gene resistance, but are slower in their expression of these responses (Yang et al., 1997;Maleck et al., 2000). Like R gene-resistant plants, susceptible plants have increased levels of salicylic acid (SA; O'Donnell et al., 2001), cell death, and defense mechanisms characteristic of systemic acquired resistance (Glazebrook, 2001). In addition, infected, susceptible plants can exhibit increased levels of jasmonic acid (JA), auxin, and ethylene (Dong, 1998;Lund et al., 1998;O'Donnell et al., 2003).These responses of plants to pathogen infection bear some similarity to responses to abiotic stress. Both can involve cell death (Beers and McDowell, 2001), ethylene, SA, and JA (Wang et al., 2002) and cause changes in the expression of some of the same transcription factors (Chen et al., 2002). One way in which plants respond to abiotic stresses is to accelerate their transition to reproduction. Researchers have noted that plants flower faster in response to shade, overcrowding, low nutrients, drought, heat, and low light quality (Casal ...

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Evolution of Inflorescence Design: Theory and Data

Cited by 58 publications

References 61 publications

Mating strategies in flowering plants: the outcrossing–selfing paradigm and beyond

Mating strategies in flowering plants: the outcrossing–selfing paradigm and beyond

EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES OF ADAPTATION IN clarkia xantiana:II. FITNESS VARIATION ACROSS A SUBSPECIES BORDER

A Developmental Response to Pathogen Infection in Arabidopsis

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