Sexual dimorphism in flowering plants

Barrett, Spencer C. H.; Hough, Josh

doi:10.1093/jxb/ers308

Cited by 381 publications

(409 citation statements)

References 148 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

391

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…If reproductive costs are greater in females than males owing to fruit production, females may delay flowering, flower less often, or experience greater mortality compared with males. These effects could be especially important in clonal species in which cumulative episodes of sexual reproduction may result in sexual dimorphism in rates of clonal reproduction and the number of flowering ramets per clone (39,40). Interestingly, in the comparative analysis conducted by Field et al (37), the opposite pattern was found in both the species level and phylogenetically controlled analyses.…”

Section: Clonality In Plants With Sexual Polymorphismsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Influences of clonality on plant sexual reproduction

Barrett

2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

221

195

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Flowering plants possess an unrivaled diversity of mechanisms for achieving sexual and asexual reproduction, often simultaneously. The commonest type of asexual reproduction is clonal growth (vegetative propagation) in which parental genotypes (genets) produce vegetative modules (ramets) that are capable of independent growth, reproduction, and often dispersal. Clonal growth leads to an expansion in the size of genets and increased fitness because large floral displays increase fertility and opportunities for outcrossing. Moreover, the clonal dispersal of vegetative propagules can assist "mate finding," particularly in aquatic plants. However, there are ecological circumstances in which functional antagonism between sexual and asexual reproductive modes can negatively affect the fitness of clonal plants. Populations of heterostylous and dioecious species have a small number of mating groups (two or three), which should occur at equal frequency in equilibrium populations. Extensive clonal growth and vegetative dispersal can disrupt the functioning of these sexual polymorphisms, resulting in biased morph ratios and populations with a single mating group, with consequences for fertility and mating. In populations in which clonal propagation predominates, mutations reducing fertility may lead to sexual dysfunction and even the loss of sex. Recent evidence suggests that somatic mutations can play a significant role in influencing fitness in clonal plants and may also help explain the occurrence of genetic diversity in sterile clonal populations. Highly polymorphic genetic markers offer outstanding opportunities for gaining novel insights into functional interactions between sexual and clonal reproduction in flowering plants.clonal growth | dioecy | geitonogamy | heterostyly | somatic mutations

show abstract

Section: Clonality In Plants With Sexual Polymorphismsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Influences of clonality on plant sexual reproduction

Barrett

2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

221

195

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Nevertheless, literature on the responses and preferences of dioecious plants to different inorganic nitrogen form is scarce. Previous studies documented that sexual dimorphisms result from different reproductive requirements of females and males, which cause sex-specific selection pressures, reduced survival of females under conditions with limited resources, unlike males with better tolerance to harsh environments (Barrett and Hough 2012). Therefore, the gender ratio is always biased to females under the favorable microhabitats and to males under unfavorable conditions (Dawson and Ehleringer 1993;Li et al 2007;Zhang et al 2009;Zhao et al 2012).…”

Section: Sex-specific Difference Of Biomass Accumulation and Allocationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Populus deltoides females are more selective in nitrogen assimilation than males under different nitrogen forms supply

Dong

Guo

et al. 2014

Trees

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Key Message Female cuttings of Populus deltoides were sensitive to inorganic nitrogen forms and biased for NO 3 2 -N, whereas males exhibited no obvious preference for nitrogen form in nitrogen fertilizations. Abstract We investigated the effects of different inorganic nitrogen forms (NO 3 --N and NH 4 ? -N) on the morphology, physiology, and carbohydrate accumulation of male and female Populus deltoides. Results showed that both NO 3 --N and NH 4 ? -N supply forms significantly increased plant growth, C and N contents of all plant organs, chlorophyll pigment contents, net photosynthesis rates (P n ), and instantaneous photosynthetic N-use efficiencies (PNUE) in the leaves of both male and female P. deltoides. Females exhibited high total plant dry mass accumulation, P n , PNUE, and N contents in leaves but lower non-structure carbohydrate accumulation than males under nitrate treatment. However, males showed significantly higher P n , PNUE, and 15 NH 4 ? in the leaves, free amino acid content, and nitrate reductase (NR) activities than females under each nitrogen form supply treatment.These results suggested that male and female P. deltoides used different adaptive strategies in dry mass accumulation, allocation, and exhibited different interactions between nitrogen and carbon metabolism. Males exhibited higher nitrogen assimilation ability and N-use efficiency than females under nitrogen fertilizations, whereas females showed more sensitivity to inorganic nitrogen forms of treatments and distinct preference for NO 3 --N. Male P. deltoides showed no obvious bias to the two different N forms. Therefore, the different preferences of male and female P. deltoides of N supplied forms can serve as an important strategy for minimizing intraspecific competition between the two genders.

show abstract

“…Flower number may have important consequences for pollinator attraction (Barrett & Hough 2013). In Fuchsia parviflora, flower number in males was barely higher than that of female plants in most populations evaluated, even though floral longevity did not differ between genders.…”

Section: Sex Ratio In Fuchsia Parvifloramentioning

confidence: 88%

Population size, sex-ratio and sexual dimorphism in <em>Fuchsia parviflora</em> (Onagraceae) an endemic dioecious shrub

2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: In small dioecious populations stochastic events may increase biased sex ratios decreasing the viability of populations. Moreover, pollinators may promote pollen limitation if sexual dimorphism related to pollinator attraction, such as flower size and number of flowers are present. Questions: 1) In order to estimate the viability of natural populations of Fuchsia parviflora, population size, sex ratio and fruit production were estimated in natural populations. In addition, number of flowers and floral traits were compared between genders as a way to predict pollinator preferences to particular gender. Studied species: Fuchsia parviflora is an endemic Mexican dioecious, animal-pollinated shrub. Methods: In 2012 and 2013 population sizes and sex ratios were estimated in 12 populations in the states of Michoacan and Jalisco. In addition, the number of flowers and floral traits were estimated between genders. Results: Population sizes varied widely from 14 to 550 individuals and an overall significant male-bias was found. Male frequency varied from 50 to 78 % among populations and some male-biased populations were also the small populations. A significant negative correlation between population size and male frequency was found, but no relationship was found between population size and number of flowers or fruit production. Reproductive plant height varied among populations but not between genders within populations. Male plants had larger number of flowers but floral longevity did not differ between genders. Consistently in all evaluated populations, staminate flowers had longer floral tubes and wider corolla diameter than pistillate flowers. Conclusions: In accordance to stochastic sex ratio fluctuations by small population sizes, it was expected to find populations with male and female-biased sex ratios. However, the absence of female-biased sex ratio suggests that male plants may have a higher survival chance but this hypothesis has to be tested. Although populations seem not to be seed-limited, some populations were cut during this study to plant avocado trees, suggesting the need to implement conservation efforts to preserve populations of F. parviflora. Keywords: biotic pollination, dioecy, floral dimorphism, population size. ResumenAntecedentes: En poblaciones dioicas pequeñas, eventos estocásticos pueden incrementar los sesgos en las proporciones sexuales lo que puede afectar la viabilidad de las poblaciones. Además, los polinizadores pueden promover la limitación de polen si existe un fuerte dimorfismo sexual en el tamaño y número de flores. Preguntas: Con la finalidad de estimar la viabilidad de las poblaciones de Fuchsia parviflora se estimaron los tamaños poblacionales, las proporciones sexuales y la producción de frutos en poblaciones naturales. Además, se comparó el despliegue floral y los caracteres florales entre géneros como una forma de predecir posibles sesgos de los polinizadores hacia algún género en particular. Especie de estudio: Fuchsia parviflora es un arbusto dioico de ...

show abstract

Sexual dimorphism in flowering plants

Cited by 381 publications

References 148 publications

Influences of clonality on plant sexual reproduction

Influences of clonality on plant sexual reproduction

Populus deltoides females are more selective in nitrogen assimilation than males under different nitrogen forms supply

Population size, sex-ratio and sexual dimorphism in <em>Fuchsia parviflora</em> (Onagraceae) an endemic dioecious shrub

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About