Bateman’s principle and plant reproduction: The role of pollen limitation in fruit and seed set

1994 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Burd
Keyword(s):  
Seed Set ◽  
Pollen Limitation ◽  
Plant Reproduction ◽  
Fruit And Seed Set

Predator Effects on Plant-Pollinator Interactions, Plant Reproduction, Mating Systems, and Evolution

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 319-340
Author(s):  
Amanda D. Benoit ◽  
Susan Kalisz
Keyword(s):  
Mating Systems ◽  
Seed Set ◽  
Pollen Limitation ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Plant Reproduction ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Interaction Networks ◽  
Pollinator Abundance ◽  
Plant Pollinator ◽  
Predator Effects

Plants are the foundation of the food web and therefore interact directly and indirectly with myriad organisms at higher trophic levels. They directly provide nourishment to mutualistic and antagonistic primary consumers (e.g., pollinators and herbivores), which in turn are consumed by predators. These interactions produce cascading indirect effects on plants (either trait-mediated or density-mediated). We review how predators affect plant-pollinator interactions and thus how predators indirectly affect plant reproduction, fitness, mating systems, and trait evolution. Predators can influence pollinator abundance and foraging behavior. In many cases, predators cause pollinators to visit plants less frequently and for shorter durations. This decline in visitation can lead to pollen limitation and decreased seed set. However, alternative outcomes can result due to differences in predator, pollinator, and plant functional traits as well as due to altered interaction networks with plant enemies. Furthermore, predators may indirectly affect the evolution of plant traits and mating systems.

The reproductive ecology of island populations of distylous Menyanthes trifoliata (Menyanthaceae)

1998 ◽  
Vol 76 (5) ◽  
pp. 818-828 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faye L Thompson ◽  
Luise A Hermanutz ◽  
David J Innes
Keyword(s):  
Seed Set ◽  
Aquatic Macrophyte ◽  
Pollen Limitation ◽  
Bimodal Distribution ◽  
Stabilizing Selection ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Anther Length ◽  
Reciprocal Arrangement ◽  
Fruit And Seed Set ◽  
Menyanthes Trifoliata

Menyanthes trifoliata L. is a distylous, clonal aquatic macrophyte found in shallow bogs and river margins throughout the boreal ecosystem, including the island of Newfoundland. A combination of long-distance dispersal and colonization after deglaciation, and pollen limitation resulting from reduced pollinator diversity and abundance documented on islands, predicts the breakdown of heterostyly to favour the establishment of self-compatible homostyles on islands. To test if self-fertilizing homostyles have been selected, variation in floral characters and compatibility relationships were examined in M. trifoliata populations from the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland. Morph ratio and its effect on fruit and seed set were examined in nine populations. Of the seven dimorphic populations, morphs occurred in a 1:1 ratio in four populations and deviated significantly from a 1:1 ratio in three populations. The two populations monomorphic for either pin or thrum morphs set few fruits or seeds (<15%). A strictly reciprocal arrangement of stigma height and anther length was not observed between pin and thrum morphs in the majority of populations studied. Stigma-anther separation showed a bimodal distribution with few intermediate "homostylous" flowers, rather than the discreet bimodal distribution typical of distylous species. Fruit and seed set were high (>60%) in equal morph ratio populations and were not significantly correlated to stigma-anther separation, indicating that there was no selective advantage of being homostylous. All three populations tested were highly self-incompatible, confirming that there has not been a breakdown of heterostyly on the island of Newfoundland. A reduced pollinator fauna typical of island environments may have relaxed stabilizing selection for strict herkogamy between floral morphs, resulting in the observed lack of reciprocity.Key words: Menyanthes trifoliata, distyly, homostyle, reciprocal herkogamy, clonal aquatic macrophyte, island of Newfoundland.

Causes of Low Fruit and Seed Set in Bird-Pollinated Anagyris foetida (Leguminosae): Pollen Limitation and Other Extrinsic Factors

2009 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco J. Valtueña ◽  
Ana Ortega-Olivencia ◽  
Tomás Rodríguez-Riaño ◽  
Josefa López
Keyword(s):  
Seed Set ◽  
Pollen Limitation ◽  
Extrinsic Factors ◽  
Fruit And Seed Set

Pollen limitation and reproduction varies with population size in experimental populations of Sabatia angularis (Gentianaceae)

Botany ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 87 (3) ◽  
pp. 330-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel B. Spigler ◽  
Shu-Mei Chang
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Population Size ◽  
Intraspecific Competition ◽  
Seed Set ◽  
Pollen Limitation ◽  
Small Populations ◽  
Plant Populations ◽  
Large Populations ◽  
Fruit And Seed Set ◽  
Supplemental Pollination

Individuals in large plant populations are expected to benefit from increased reproductive success relative to those in small populations because of the facilitative effects of large aggregations on pollination. As populations become small, the inability to attract sufficient numbers of pollinators can reduce reproduction via pollen limitation. This study experimentally tested whether such trends occur for the herbaceous biennial Sabatia angularis (L.) Pursh (Gentianaceae). We created artificial populations of varying size consisting of potted S. angularis plants in two field sites to determine whether population size affected mean fruit and seed set. We also examined whether population size affected the degree of pollen limitation using a supplemental pollination design in one of the sites. Our results showed that, on average, seed set was lower in large populations, not small populations, of S. angularis and that this result may be due to increased pollen limitation in large populations. We suggest that in certain contexts, small populations may enjoy reproductive advantages over large populations by escaping intraspecific competition for pollinators.

scholarly journals The Effects of Exogenous Polyamines and the Silencing of RLCK VI_A Kinases on the Polar Growth of Nicotiana tabacum (Tobacco) Pollen Tubes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shyam Jee
Keyword(s):  
Nicotiana Tabacum ◽  
Seed Set ◽  
Pollen Viability ◽  
Harmful Effect ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Tobacco Pollen ◽  
Experimental Approaches ◽  
Fruit And Seed Set ◽  
Germination And Growth

Several genetic and/or environmental factors such as air, temperature, humidity can have a harmful effect on fruit- and seed-set in seed plants. To minimize the harmful effect of these factors, it is important to get more information on the underlying genetics and physiology of pollen biology, including pollen viability and the regulation of pollen germination and tube growth, which is required to increase the safety of crop productivity (Abdelgadir, Johnson, and Staden 2012). In this thesis, two different experimental approaches were described to better understand the role of polyamines and plant-specific kinases (RLCK VI_A), respectively, on pollen tube germination and growth in Nicotiana tabacum.

scholarly journals Why are flowers ephemeral? Effects of old flower microbes on fruit set in a wild ginger with one-day flowers, Alpinia japonica (Zingiberaceae)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shoko Sakai ◽  
Masayuki Ushio ◽  
Nuria Jimenez Elvira
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Community ◽  
Fruit Set ◽  
Seed Set ◽  
Defense Mechanism ◽  
Plant Reproduction ◽  
Amplicon Sequencing ◽  
Sequence Variants ◽  
Flower Buds ◽  
Short Lifespan ◽  
Fruit And Seed Set

Flowers are colonized by and inhabited by diverse microbes. Plants rapidly replace flowers of short lifespan, and old flowers senesce. This may contribute to avoiding adverse effects of the microbes. In this study, we investigate if the flower microbial community on old flowers impedes fruit and seed production in a wild ginger with one-day flowers. We inoculated newly opened flowers with old flower microbes, and monitored the effects on fruit and seed set. We also assessed prokaryotic communities on the flowers using amplicon sequencing. We found five bacterial amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) whose proportions were increased on the inoculated flowers. These ASVs were also found on flower buds and flowers that were bagged by net or paper during anthesis. Fruit set was negatively associated with the proportions of these ASVs, while seed set was not. The results suggest that old flowers harbor microbial communities different from those at anthesis, and that the microbes abundant on old flowers negatively affect plant reproduction. Though the short lifespan of flowers has gotten little attention, it might be an essential defense mechanism to cope with antagonistic microbes that rapidly proliferate on the flowers.

scholarly journals Phloem-Feeding Herbivores Affect Floral Development and Reproduction in the Etruscan Honeysuckle (Lonicera etrusca Santi)

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 815
Author(s):  
Sandra V. Rojas-Nossa ◽  
José María Sánchez ◽  
Luis Navarro
Keyword(s):  
Fruit Set ◽  
Floral Development ◽  
Seed Set ◽  
Wild Populations ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Complex Landscape ◽  
Fruit And Seed Set ◽  
Phloem Feeding ◽  
Growth And Reproduction

Floral development depends on multifactor processes related to genetic, physiological, and ecological pathways. Plants respond to herbivores by activating mechanisms aimed at tolerating, compensating, or avoiding loss of biomass and nutrients, and thereby survive in a complex landscape of interactions. Thus, plants need to overcome trade-offs between development, growth, and reproduction vs. the initiation of anti-herbivore defences. This study aims to assess the frequency of phloem-feeding herbivores in wild populations of the Etruscan honeysuckle (Lonicera etrusca Santi) and study their effects on floral development and reproduction. The incidence of herbivory by the honeysuckle aphid (Hyadaphis passerinii del Guercio) was assessed in three wild populations of the Iberian Peninsula. The effect of herbivory on floral morphology, micromorphology of stigmas and pollen, floral rewards, pollination, and fruit and seed set were studied. The herbivory by aphids reduces the size of flowers and pollen. Additionally, it stops nectar synthesis and causes malformation in pollen and microstructures of stigmas, affecting pollination. As a consequence, fruit set and seed weight are reduced. This work provides evidence of the changes induced by phloem-feeding herbivores in floral development and functioning that affect the ecological processes necessary to maintain the reproductive success of plants.

The influence of floral morph ratios and low plant density on mating and fertility in a tristylous colonizing species

Botany ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 96 (8) ◽  
pp. 533-545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher M. Balogh ◽  
Spencer C.H. Barrett
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiment ◽  
Seed Set ◽  
Plant Density ◽  
Pollen Limitation ◽  
Lythrum Salicaria ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Morph Ratios ◽  
Floral Morph

Sexual reproduction in heterostylous populations may be vulnerable to demographic conditions because of the small number of mating types in populations. Here, we investigate mating and fertility under natural and experimental conditions in tristylous Lythrum salicaria L., an invasive species that exhibits a wide range of floral morph ratios and demographic contexts. We grew 147 open-pollinated seed families from six populations with different morph structures to estimate intermorph mating (d). In a field experiment, we used progeny ratios from 47 spatially isolated individuals to estimate d, and measured the intensity of pollen limitation experienced by the morphs. The M- and S-morphs experienced high rates of d, regardless of population size or morph ratio. Estimates for the L-morph revealed low levels of intramorph mating in three dimorphic and two trimorphic populations, but near complete intramorph mating in a monomorphic population. Despite high levels of intermorph mating in the field experiment, the morphs experienced significant pollen limitation of fruit and seed set, but this did not differ in intensity among the morphs. Our field experiment demonstrates that although plant isolation was associated with pollen limitation of seed set, “long-distance” bee-mediated pollen flow served to maintain intermorph mating. Tristyly in L. salicaria is remarkably robust to the demographic variation associated with colonization.

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