Reproductive efficiency and shade avoidance plasticity under simulated competition

Fazlioglu, Fatih; Al‐Namazi, Ali A.; Bonser, Stephen P.

doi:10.1002/ece3.2254

Cited by 14 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 54 publications

(113 reference statements)

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“…Strikingly, independently of life histories, shade induced reproductive behavior, and plants allocated more resources to reproduction at the expense of total biomass and leaf number. (Fazlioglu et al ., ). Our results show that this may not be the case for alfalfa as shade delayed flowering without decreasing biomass, which is in accordance with predictions of the plant strategy theory for iteroparous perennials growing in relatively undisturbed areas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Shade delays flowering in Medicago sativa

et al. 2019

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Summary Shade‐intolerant plants respond to the decrease in the red (R) to far‐red (FR) light ratio (R:FR) occurring under shade by elongating stems and petioles and by re‐positioning leaves, in a race to outcompete neighbors for the sunlight resource. In some annual species, the shade avoidance syndrome (SAS) is accompanied by the early induction of flowering. Anticipated flowering is viewed as a strategy to set seeds before the resources become severely limiting. Little is known about the molecular mechanisms of SAS in perennial forage crops like alfalfa (Medicago sativa). To study SAS in alfalfa, we exposed alfalfa plants to simulated shade by supplementing with FR light. Low R:FR light produced a classical SAS, with increased internode and petiole lengths, but unexpectedly also with delayed flowering. To understand the molecular mechanisms involved in uncoupling SAS from early flowering, we used a transcriptomic approach. The SAS is likely to be mediated by increased expression of msPIF3 and msHB2 in low R:FR light. Constitutive expression of these genes in Arabidopsis led to SAS, including early flowering, strongly suggesting that their roles are conserved. Delayed flowering was likely to be mediated by the downregulation of msSPL3, which promotes flowering in both Arabidopsis and alfalfa. Shade‐delayed flowering in alfalfa may be important to extend the vegetative phase under suboptimal light conditions, and thus assure the accumulation of reserves necessary to resume growth after the next season.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Shade delays flowering in Medicago sativa

et al. 2019

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“…This response suggests that even the major developmental stages such as the size at reproduction can be highly plastic. Experiments on herbaceous and woody plants demonstrated that stressful environments - namely resource impoverishment and competition – induce reproduction at smaller sizes 2 , 31 , 32 . Our results were consistent with these patterns.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water depth affects reproductive allocation and reproductive allometry in the submerged macrophyte Vallisneria natans

Bonser

Lan

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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In freshwater ecosystems, shifts in hydrological regimes have profound effects on reproductive output (R), along with vegetative biomass (V) and survival of plants. Because reproductive allocation (RA) is allometric, it remains unclear whether the observed variation of RA in response to water level variability is due to fixed patterns of development or plasticity in the developmental trajectories. Here, we investigated shifts in RA of a submerged macrophyte Vallisneria natans in response to water depth to test the hypothesis that allometric trajectories of RA are highly plastic. Plants were grown at three water depths (50, 100 and 150 cm) and measured after 26 weeks of growth. The relationships between R and V among treatments were compared. Deep water affected both biomass and number of fruits produced per plant, leading to less sexual reproduction. Plants in deep water started flowering at a smaller size and despite their small mature size, had a relatively high RA. Furthermore, these plants had a much lower log R–log V relationship than shallow- or intermediate-water plants. In conclusion, reproduction of V. natans is highly variable across water depth treatments, and variations in reproductive allometry represent different strategies under an important stress gradient for these freshwater angiosperms.

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“…Size at first flowering was recorded as the number of leaves at initiation of reproduction (Fazlioglu et al. ). Some pots were damaged by unidentified aquatic insects during the experiment and were excluded from analyses.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Height was measured as the distance from the soil surface to the apex of the longest leaf (to the nearest 1 mm). Size at first flowering was recorded as the number of leaves at initiation of reproduction (Fazlioglu et al 2016). Some pots were damaged by unidentified aquatic insects during the experiment and were excluded from analyses.…”

Section: Sampling Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Allocation to clonal and sexual reproduction and its plasticity in Vallisneria spinulosa along a water‐depth gradient

Lan

Chen

et al. 2018

Ecosphere

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Citation: Li, L., Z. Lan, J. Chen, and Z. Song. 2018. Allocation to clonal and sexual reproduction and its plasticity in Vallisneria spinulosa along a water-depth gradient. Ecosphere 9(1):e02070. 10.1002/ecs2.2070 Abstract. Variations in water level profoundly affect functional stability of freshwater ecosystems, as well as macrophyte growth and reproduction. Although the trade-off between allocation to clonal and sexual reproduction in clonal plants can be influenced by a variety of environmental factors, whether variations of reproductive allocation (RA) in response to different environments are driven only by a sizedependent effect (apparent plasticity) or whether RA can also change independently of plant size (true plasticity) is uncertain. We conducted an experiment in nine outdoor mesocosms (6400 L) to investigate the response of clonal and sexual reproduction and vegetative growth of a perennial submerged macrophyte Vallisneria spinulosa at water depths of 50, 100, or 150 cm. We evaluated size-dependent and sizeindependent effects of water depth on sexual and clonal RA. Deep water reduced vegetative size and sexual output (mass of fruits produced), but increased tuber production of V. spinulosa. There was an apparent trade-off between reproductive modes in terms of biomass investment; plants in deep water allocated more resources into clonal propagation and reduced investment in sexual reproduction compared to plants in shallow or intermediate water. Slopes of allometric relationships (sexual vs. vegetative biomass and clonal vs. vegetative biomass) were significantly affected by water depth. Shifts in sexual RA in response to varying water depths were largely size-dependent, but there were also size-independent effects. In contrast, size-independent effects were more important than effects of size changes in determining clonal RA. We concluded that V. spinulosa adapted to a water-depth gradient by plastic trade-offs between clonal propagation and sexual reproduction. Furthermore, a size-independent effect on RA suggests a flexible reproductive strategy that could be critical for plant performance in changing aquatic environments.

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Reproductive efficiency and shade avoidance plasticity under simulated competition

Cited by 14 publications

References 54 publications

Shade delays flowering in Medicago sativa

Shade delays flowering in Medicago sativa

Water depth affects reproductive allocation and reproductive allometry in the submerged macrophyte Vallisneria natans

Allocation to clonal and sexual reproduction and its plasticity in Vallisneria spinulosa along a water‐depth gradient

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