Annals of Botany 2008 101(9):NP; doi:10.1093/aob/mcn078
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ContentSnapshots
What explains the wide variation in root proliferation responses to nutrient patches? (Viewpoint)
From a meta-analysis
of published data,
Kembel et al. (pp. 1295–1301) conclude
that foraging precision is part of a ‘fast’ suite
of plant traits related to rapid growth and resource uptake.
They find little to support the view that foraging scale and
precision are correlated.
Mating in an annual colonizing plant
Plant density can
influence mating, particularly in colonizing species that experience
wide density variation.
Friedman and Barrett (pp. 1303–1309) find that in
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed) showing
uniformly high outcrossing rates, the species possesses a strong
self-incompatibility mechanism. This finding is contrary to
earlier reports and assumptions.
CLES, a virtual model to study crop–weed competition
Improving the competitive
ability of crops is a sustainable method of weed management.
Cici et al. (pp. 1311–1318) develop a virtual plant model
of chickpea (
Cicer arietinum) and sowthistle (
Sonchus oleraceus)
that may be used as a framework for discovering and/or developing
more competitive chickpea cultivars.
Germination in Suaeda maritima
Effects of salinity,
hydration, hypoxia and temperature on germination are compared
with dry storage by
Wetson et al. (pp. 1319–1327). They
show that viability is maintained in both saline and anoxic
conditions. However, cold saline or an equivalent osmotic medium
inhibits germination during natural dormancy and predisposes
seeds to germinate when the temperature rises and salinity falls.
Mode of action of herbicide quinclorac clarified
Alonso-Simón et al. (pp. 1329–1339) analyse bean culture cells habituated to normally lethal concentrations
of quinclorac and compare them with cells habituated to cellulose
biosynthesis inhibitors. Results indicate that quinclorac does
not inhibit cellulose synthesis but provokes cell wall anomalies
as a side-effect of an auxinic mode of action.
Food body ultrastructure in Japanese raisin tree
Buono et al. (pp. 1341–1348) describe the structure and chemical composition of nutritive
reserves of food bodies (FBs) in young plants of
Hovenia dulcis.
FBs are shown to contain high-energy lipids and to be collected
and eaten by ants. This suggests that FBs are important in plant–ant
interactions.
Survey of physical dormancy in seeds of the Sapindaceae
The Sapindaceae
is one of 16 angiosperm families whose seeds show physical dormancy.
Cook et al. (pp. 1349–1362) investigate the occurrence
of physical dormancy amongst 14 species in nine genera within
the Australian Sapindaceae and find a strong correlation between
physical dormancy and taxonomic relatedness.
Monocot leaves are tougher than dicot leaves
Dominy et al. (pp. 1363–1377) examine >100 species of tropical lowland rain forests of
Australia, Singapore and Panama, and find monocot leaves physically
tougher than dicot leaves when immature and when fully expanded.
Toughness is thought to deter herbivory. In young expanding
leaves, only those of monocot species are notably tough.
Monocot leaves are eaten less
Observations by
Grubb et al. (pp. 1379–1389) support the notion that losses
to herbivorous invertebrates by tropical lowland rain forest
species are greatest during leaf expansion when toughness is
minimal, and are less for monocots than dicots. This difference
is greater during leaf expansion when only monocots exhibit
significant toughness. Results are from six sites on four continents.
The costs of reproduction in congeneric dioecious Rhus javanica and R. trichocarpa
Relative reproductive
allocation and costs in male and female plants are compared
by
Matsuyama and Sakimoto (pp. 1391–1400). Costs are detected
in
R. trichocarpa that leafs and flowers simultaneously but
not in
R. javanica where leafing follows flowering. These different
phenological patterns may explain the different costs.
Floras of New Zealand and the southern Andes compared
Ezcurra et al. (pp. 1401–1412) compare 369 genera of ten vegetation types and conclude that
similarities between NZ and SA increase from forest to non-forest
vegetation and are highest in coastal vegetation and bogs. The
flora of NZ is characterized by more genera of basal origin,
especially in forests.
Reward and floral phenotype in Erysimum mediohispanicum
Floral rewards
associated with certain morphological floral traits may underlie
selection for these traits.
Gómez et al. (pp. 1413–1420) show a significant association between nectar production rate
and corolla tube length, and between pollen production and corolla
diameter. Both traits are selected by main pollinators, suggesting
that reward mediates in phenotypic selection.
Root biomass allocation and stem bending
Individual tree
shelters suppress root biomass and radial growth.
Coutand et al. (pp. 1421–1432) find that bending the stem within the shelter increases radial
growth by
30 % and re-allocates biomass towards roots. This
demonstrates that lack of movement of the stem within the shelter
deprives roots of biomass and inhibits radial expansion.
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