Fruit polymorphism in ephemeral species of Namaqualand: VII. Diaspore production of plants cultivated from dimorphic diaspores

Beneke, Karen; Rooyen, M.W. van; Theron, G.K.

doi:10.1006/jare.1993.1058

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Plants reared from black seeds of Chenopodium album (Amaranthaceae) produced more brown seeds than plants from brown seeds, but this phenomenon was only observed for plants reared at 50 mmol L -1 NaCl [22]. Plants reared from heteromorphic diaspores of Dimorphotheca sinuata (Asteraceae) and Arctotis fastuosa (Asteraceae) did not differ in ratio of seed morphs [34]. Our results indicated that plants grown from brown seeds produced a higher brown:black seed ratio than those produced from plants grown from black seeds in all nutrient and salinity treatments, which was confirmed by the common garden experiment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seed dimorphism, nutrients and salinity differentially affect seed traits of the desert halophyte Suaeda aralocaspicavia multiple maternal effects

Wang

Baskin

et al. 2012

BMC Plant Biol

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BackgroundMaternal effects may influence a range of seed traits simultaneously and are likely to be context-dependent. Disentangling the interactions of plant phenotype and growth environment on various seed traits is important for understanding regeneration and establishment of species in natural environments. Here, we used the seed-dimorphic plant Suaeda aralocaspica to test the hypothesis that seed traits are regulated by multiple maternal effects.ResultsPlants grown from brown seeds had a higher brown:black seed ratio than plants from black seeds, and germination percentage of brown seeds was higher than that of black seeds under all conditions tested. However, the coefficient of variation (CV) for size of black seeds was higher than that of brown seeds. Seeds had the smallest CV at low nutrient and high salinity for plants from brown seeds and at low nutrient and low salinity for plants from black seeds. Low levels of nutrients increased size and germinability of black seeds but did not change the seed morph ratio or size and germinability of brown seeds. High levels of salinity decreased seed size but did not change the seed morph ratio. Seeds from high-salinity maternal plants had a higher germination percentage regardless of level of germination salinity.ConclusionsOur study supports the multiple maternal effects hypothesis. Seed dimorphism, nutrient and salinity interacted in determining a range of seed traits of S. aralocaspica via bet-hedging and anticipatory maternal effects. This study highlights the importance of examining different maternal factors and various offspring traits in studies that estimate maternal effects on regeneration.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%