Transgenerational effects of plant sex and arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis

Varga, Sandra; Vega-Frutis, Rocío; Kytöviita, Minna‐Maarit

doi:10.1111/nph.12305

Cited by 36 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…Even less is known of the mechanisms of how different sexes can alter cyanobacterial infection, or how the costs and pay-offs of this symbiosis may differ. However, recent studies have shown that other root associations, such as with mycorrhiza, can differ between sexes in dioecious plant species, and that this association can also disproportionately benefit one sex (Varga and KytövIIta 2008; Vega-Frutis and Guevara 2009; Varga and Kytöviita 2010; Varga et al 2013). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex-specific differences in functional traits and resource acquisition in five cycad species

et al. 2017

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The Mesozoic is often referred to as the “age of Cycads.” During this period, dinosaurs roamed vast Cycad forests, yet modern Cycads are a vestige of their Mesozoic glory. Extant species represent the oldest lineage of dioecious seed-bearing plants. This curious phylogenic position is matched by their unusual ecology: most species are extremely rare while others form dense colonies that may play important roles in forest function. In spite of this and quite remarkably, Cycads are the most poorly studied lineage of seed plants and almost nothing is known of their ecophysiology. The study by Krieg et al. is the first of its kind to examine sex-mediated ecophysiology in Cycads. Their results show unexpended differences in photosynthetic physiology and highlight the role that nitrogen fixing soil bacteria may play in Cycad reproduction and ecology. They found that species can vary markedly in nitrogen relations and that plant sex can drive unique leaf physiology. Their study is a cycadological call to arms for plant scientists to refocus efforts on this enigmatic group.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex-specific differences in functional traits and resource acquisition in five cycad species

et al. 2017

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“…Having ruled out most of the explanations given to explain female maintenance in gynodioecious plants in general, the possibility of inbreeding depression avoidance in females appears as a likely candidate to explain the existence of females in G. sylvaticum. However, limited evidence suggests that inbreeding depression is minor in this species, at least in the seedling stage (Varga et al, 2013). Because the magnitude of inbreeding depression can differ during plant life cycle (Husband and Schemske, 1996), and inbreeding depression can be affected by different environmental stresses (see e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Light availability affects sex lability in a gynodioecious plant

Varga

Kytöviita

2016

American J of Botany

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Running head: Sex lability in Geranium sylvaticum. AcknowledgementsThe authors thank Pasi Reunanen for help establishing the experimental sites, Janne Ruuth, Emmi Halonen, and Jelmer Elzinga for help with the fieldwork, and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments. Permission to work on the sites was kindly granted by Metsähallitus. This study was funded by the Academy of Finland (project 250911 to S.V.).1 Manuscript received ________: revision accepted ________. AbstractPremise of the study: Sex lability (i.e. gender diphasy) in plants is classically linked to the larger resource needs associated with the female sexual function (i.e. seed production) compared to the male function (i.e. pollen production). Sex lability in response to the environment is extensively documented in dioecious species, but has been largely overlooked in gynodioecious plants.Methods: Here, we tested whether environmental conditions induce sex lability in the gynodioecious Geranium sylvaticum. We conducted a transplantation experiment in the field where plants with different sex expression were reciprocally transplanted between high light and low light habitats. We measured plants' reproductive output and sex expression over 4 years. Key results:Our results show that sex expression was labile over the study period. The light level at the destination habitat had a significant effect on sexual expression and reproductive output, as plants decreased their reproductive output when transplanted to the low light habitat.Transplantation origin did not affect any parameter measured.Conclusions: This study shows that sex expression in Geranium sylvaticum is labile and related to light availability. Sexually labile plants did not produce more seeds or pollen, and thus, there was no apparent fitness gain in sexually labile individuals. Sex lability in gynodioecious plants may be more common than previously believed as detection of sex lability necessitates data on the same individuals over time which is rare in sexually dimorphic herbaceous plants.

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“…This negligible effect of biparental inbreeding may be ubiquitous across gynodioecious species as our literature review of biparental inbreeding rates showed low rates that rarely differed between sexes. These observations suggest that instead of the mating system being the primary factor in the evolution and maintenance of females, other mechanisms, for example, context dependent selection (Ashman and Diefenderfer, 2001;Case and Ashman, 2007;Dufay et al, 2009) or biotic interactions such as herbivory (Ashman, 2002) and mychorrizal associations (Pendleton, 2000;Varga, 2010;Varga et al, 2013), may be more important in many gynodioecious species, including G. maculatum.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mating system contributes only slightly to female maintenance in gynodioecious Geranium maculatum (Geraniaceae)

et al. 2014

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Gynodioecy, the co-occurrence of female and hermaphroditic individuals within a population, is an important intermediate in the evolution of separate sexes. The first step, female maintenance, requires females to have higher seed fitness compared with hermaphrodites. A common mechanism thought to increase relative female fitness is inbreeding depression avoidance, the magnitude of which depends on hermaphroditic selfing rates and the strength of inbreeding depression. Less well studied is the effect of biparental inbreeding on female fitness. Biparental inbreeding can affect relative female fitness only if its consequence or frequency differs between sexes, which could occur if sex structure and genetic structure both occur within populations. To determine whether inbreeding avoidance and/or biparental inbreeding can account for female persistence in Geranium maculatum, we measured selfing and biparental inbreeding rates in four populations and the spatial genetic structure in six populations. Selfing rates of hermaphrodites were low and did not differ significantly from zero in any population, leading to females gaining at most a 1-14% increase in seed fitness from inbreeding avoidance. Additionally, although significant spatial genetic structure was found in all populations, biparental inbreeding rates were low and only differed between sexes in one population, thereby having little influence on female fitness. A review of the literature revealed few sexual differences in biparental inbreeding among other gynodioecious species. Our results show that mating system differences may not fully account for female maintenance in this species, suggesting other mechanisms may be involved.

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Transgenerational effects of plant sex and arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis

Cited by 36 publications

References 75 publications

Sex-specific differences in functional traits and resource acquisition in five cycad species

Sex-specific differences in functional traits and resource acquisition in five cycad species

Light availability affects sex lability in a gynodioecious plant

Mating system contributes only slightly to female maintenance in gynodioecious Geranium maculatum (Geraniaceae)

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