Pollination unpredictability and ovule number in a South-Andean Proteaceae along a rainfall gradient

2016 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanina Ruth Chalcoff ◽  
Marcelo Adrián Aizen
Keyword(s):  
Pollen Limitation ◽  
Bet Hedging ◽  
Hedging Strategy ◽  
Rainfall Gradient ◽  
Adaptive Explanation ◽  
Ovule Number ◽  
Pollen Receipt ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Ovule Production ◽  
North Western

Pollen limitation occurs frequently in plant populations and, as result, many ovules are wasted. One possible adaptive explanation posits that ovule overproduction represents a ‘bet-hedging’ strategy against pollination inefficiency. This hypothesis is supported by comparative evidence showing that unpredictability in pollen receipt is positively associated with an increasing number of ovules per flower across species. Yet, this proposition has not been tested at the intraspecific level, where natural selection operates. Here, we evaluated the relationship between pollination unpredictability, considering both pollination quantity and quality, and number of ovules per flower, across 16 populations of the south-Andean generalist treelet Embothrium coccineum J.R.Forster and G.Forst from north-western Patagonia, which occurs along a west–east gradient of decreasing rainfall. Despite sizable variation in mean number of ovules per flower, we found no increase in ovule production with increasing pollination unpredictability across populations. Instead, we found that mean number of ovules per flower decreased with decreasing rainfall. Therefore, in this species, there was no support for the proposal that ovule overproduction represents a bet-hedging strategy against unpredictable pollen receipt. Rather, the number of ovules per flower seems to be conditioned primarily by resource availability.

scholarly journals Individual reversible plasticity as a genotype‐level bet‐hedging strategy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas R. Haaland ◽  
Jonathan Wright ◽  
Irja I. Ratikainen
Keyword(s):  
Bet Hedging ◽  
Hedging Strategy

scholarly journals Different resource allocation in a Bacillus subtilis population displaying bimodal motility

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Syvertsson ◽  
Biwen Wang ◽  
Jojet Staal ◽  
Yongqiang Gao ◽  
Remco Kort ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Bacillus Subtilis ◽  
Exponential Growth ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Feedback Regulation ◽  
Bet Hedging ◽  
Hedging Strategy ◽  
Negative Feedback Regulation ◽  
Continuous Increase ◽  
Motile Cells

To cope with sudden changes in their environment, bacteria can use a bet-hedging strategy by dividing the population into cells with different properties. This so-called bimodal or bistable cellular differentiation is generally controlled by positive feedback regulation of transcriptional activators. Due to the continuous increase in cell volume, it is difficult for these activators to reach an activation threshold concentration when cells are growing exponentially. This is one reason why bimodal differentiation is primarily observed from the onset of the stationary phase when exponential growth ceases. An exception is the bimodal induction of motility in Bacillus subtilis, which occurs early during exponential growth. Several mechanisms have been put forward to explain this, including double negative-feedback regulation and the stability of the mRNA molecules involved. In this study, we used fluorescence-assisted cell sorting to compare the transcriptome of motile and non-motile cells and noted that expression of ribosomal genes is lower in motile cells. This was confirmed using an unstable GFP reporter fused to the strong ribosomal rpsD promoter. We propose that the reduction in ribosomal gene expression in motile cells is the result of a diversion of cellular resources to the synthesis of the chemotaxis and motility systems. In agreement, single-cell microscopic analysis showed that motile cells are slightly shorter than non-motile cells, an indication of slower growth. We speculate that this growth rate reduction can contribute to the bimodal induction of motility during exponential growth. IMPORTANCE To cope with sudden environmental changes, bacteria can use a bet-hedging strategy and generate different types of cells within a population, so called bimodal differentiation. For example, a Bacillus subtilis culture can contain both motile and non-motile cells. In this study we compared the gene expression between motile and non-motile cells. It appeared that motile cells express less ribosomes. To confirm this, we constructed a ribosomal promoter fusion that enabled us to measure expression of this promoter in individual cells. This reporter fusion confirmed our initial finding. The re-allocation of cellular resources from ribosome synthesis towards synthesis of the motility apparatus results in a reduction in growth. Interestingly, this growth reduction has been shown to stimulate bimodal differentiation.

scholarly journals A note on imperfect hedging: a method for testing stability of the hedge ratio

2012 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-50
Author(s):  
Michal Černý ◽  
Jan Pelikán
Keyword(s):  
Recent Change ◽  
Hedging Strategy ◽  
Hedge Ratio ◽  
Risk Manager ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Short Run ◽  
On Line ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Open Position

Companies producing, processing and consuming commodities in the production process often hedge their commodity expositions using derivative strategies based on different, highly correlated underlying commodities. Once the open position in a commodity is hedged using a derivative position with another underlying commodity, the appropriate hedge ratio must be determined in order the hedge relationship be as effective as possible. However, it is questionable whether the hedge ratio determined at the inception of the risk management strategy remains stable over the whole period for which the hedging strategy exists. Usually it is assumed that in the short run, the relationship (say, correlation) between the two commodities remains stable, while in the long run it may vary. We propose a method, based on statistical theory of stability, for on-line detection whether market movements of prices of the commodities involved in the hedge relationship indicate that the hedge ratio may have been subject to a recent change. The change in the hedge ratio decreases the effectiveness of the original hedge relationship and creates a new open position. The method proposed should inform the risk manager that it could be reasonable to adjust the derivative strategy in a way reflecting the market conditions after the change in the hedge ratio.

scholarly journals Capital Gains Sensitivity of US BBB-Rated Debt to US Treasury Market: Markov-Switching Analyses

Complexity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Mariya Gubareva ◽  
Ilias Chondrogiannis
Keyword(s):  
Business Cycles ◽  
Interest Rates ◽  
Capital Gains ◽  
Capital Gain ◽  
Bond Yields ◽  
Hedging Strategy ◽  
Treasury Bonds ◽  
Bond Portfolio ◽  
Policy Suggestions ◽  
The Relationship

We reexamine the relationship between credit spreads and interest rates from a capital gain perspective of bond portfolio. Capital gain sensitivity between US BBB-rated bonds and Treasury bonds is weak and positive in normal periods, but strong and negative during recessions. In the upward phase of business cycles, changes in interest rates are fully reflected in the bond yields, leaving spreads unchanged, while in the downward phase, rates and spreads move in opposite directions. This alternation between two distinct regimes reconciles a long-standing division in the literature. We then discuss the efficiency of shorting Treasury bonds as a hedging strategy and policy suggestions.

scholarly journals Proximity to forest edge does not affect crop production despite pollen limitation

2008 ◽  
Vol 275 (1637) ◽  
pp. 907-913 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natacha P Chacoff ◽  
Marcelo A Aizen ◽  
Valeria Aschero
Keyword(s):  
Crop Production ◽  
Pollen Limitation ◽  
Forest Edge ◽  
Fruit Production ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Visitation Frequency ◽  
Forest Remnants ◽  
Pollen Vectors ◽  
Pollen Receipt

A decline in pollination function has been linked to agriculture expansion and intensification. In northwest Argentina, pollinator visits to grapefruit, a self-compatible but pollinator-dependent crop, decline by approximately 50% at 1 km from forest edges. We evaluated whether this decrease in visitation also reduces the pollination service in this crop. We analysed the quantity and quality of pollen deposited on stigmas, and associated limitation of fruit production at increasing distances (edge: 10, 100, 500 and 1000 m) from the remnants of Yungas forest. We also examined the quantitative and qualitative efficiency of honeybees as pollen vectors. Pollen receipt and pollen tubes in styles decreased with increasing distance from forest edge; however, this decline did not affect fruit production. Supplementation of natural pollen with self- and cross-pollen revealed that both pollen quantity and quality limited fruit production. Despite pollen limitation, honeybees cannot raise fruit production because they often do not deposit sufficient high-quality pollen per visit to elicit fruit development. However, declines in visitation frequency well below seven visits during a flower's lifespan could decrease production beyond current yields. In this context, the preservation of forest remnants, which act as pollinator sources, could contribute to resilience in crop production. Like wild plants, pollen limitation of the yield among animal-pollinated crops may be common and indicative not only of pollinator scarcity, but also of poor pollination quality, whereby pollinator efficiency, rather than just abundance, can play a broader role than previously appreciated.

scholarly journals Costs and benefits of maternally inherited algal symbionts in coral larvae

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1857) ◽  
pp. 20170852 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valérie F. Chamberland ◽  
Kelly R. W. Latijnhouwers ◽  
Jef Huisman ◽  
Aaron C. Hartmann ◽  
Mark J. A. Vermeij
Keyword(s):  
Marine Invertebrates ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Bet Hedging ◽  
Hedging Strategy ◽  
Coral Larvae ◽  
Stony Coral ◽  
Algal Symbionts ◽  
Settlement Success ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Endosymbiotic Algae

Many marine invertebrates provide their offspring with symbionts. Yet the consequences of maternally inherited symbionts on larval fitness remain largely unexplored. In the stony coral Favia fragum (Esper 1797), mothers produce larvae with highly variable amounts of endosymbiotic algae, and we examined the implications of this variation in symbiont density on the performance of F. fragum larvae under different environmental scenarios. High symbiont densities prolonged the period that larvae actively swam and searched for suitable settlement habitats. Thermal stress reduced survival and settlement success in F. fragum larvae, whereby larvae with high symbiont densities suffered more from non-lethal stress and were five times more likely to die compared with larvae with low symbiont densities. These results show that maternally inherited algal symbionts can be either beneficial or harmful to coral larvae depending on the environmental conditions at hand, and suggest that F. fragum mothers use a bet-hedging strategy to minimize risks associated with spatio-temporal variability in their offspring's environment.

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