Annals of Botany 2008 102(1):iii; doi:10.1093/aob/mcn097
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Model system for heavy metal hyperaccumulation (Invited Review)
Thlaspi caerulescens is a model species for studying mechanisms of zinc and cadmium
transport, expression of metal-inducible gene expression and
physiology of heavy metal tolerance and hyperaccumulation. Such
work also helps understand the establishment of micronutrient
homeostasis, and
Milner and Kochian (pp. 3–13) review
progress.
Relationships between polyploid medics
Medicago section
Dendrotelis includes three agriculturally important species
with controversial taxonomy. Cytogenetic analyses by
Rosato et al. (pp. 15–22) show a close interrelationship between the tetraploids
M. arborea and
M. strasseri. FISH and GISH analyses support a specific
status for hexaploid
M. citrina, suggesting that
M. strasseri and
M. strasseri were not involved in its origin.
Pollination of island plants
Generalized pollination
and selfing breeding systems are common in islands, where pollinator
faunas are often depaupurate and mates are scarce, particularly
during colonization.
Martén-Rodríguez and Fenster (pp. 23–30) find highly specialized hummingbird pollination associated with
autonomous selfing mechanisms combined with bat and generalized
pollination systems amongst five closely related species of
Gesneria from Puerto Rico.
Characteristic thickened cell wall of the bract of the ‘eternal flower’
Helichrysum bracteatum possesses large and coloured scarious floral bracts.
Nishikawa et al. (pp. 31–37) show that all the cells of these bracts have characteristic
thickened secondary cell walls. This is the first report of
this feature in scarious floral bracts.
Water gap identified in Cuscuta seeds
Using light and
scanning electron microscopy, tissue-sectioning and dye-tracking
and blocking experiments,
Jayasuriya et al. (pp. 39–48) show that dormancy in seeds of parasitic
Cuscuta australis is
broken when water penetrates the hilar fissure rather than micropyle-related
regions. The seeds can cycle between insensitivity and sensitivity
to dormancy-breaking treatments.
Host range and selectivity of the root parasite Thesium chinensis
Plants of Santalales
are root parasites.
Suetsugu et al. (pp. 49–55) report
an unexpectedly broad host range for
Thesium chinensis, although
some host-species selectivity is apparent. This is the first
quantitative investigation of host selectivity in the Santalales.
MADS-box genes co-operate in tuberous root formation
Using functional
analyses employing potato (
Solanum tuberosum) as a heterologous
model,
Ku et al. (pp. 57–67) identify an involvement of
MADS-box transcription factors in early tuber development in
Ipomoea batatas and indicate a significant role for the
IbMADS1 gene during the action of tuberizing hormones jasmonic acid
and cytokinin.
Population genetics of a mountain pine
Population genetics
of
Pinus kwangtungensis in southern China are examined by
Tian et al. (pp. 69–78) using a plastid DNA fragment with a novel minisatellite. The
results point to a strong genetic structure arising from a long-term
isolation among refugia during the Quaternary period and from
limited ongoing gene flow between isolated and fragmented populations.
Uncoupled geographic variation between leaves and flowers in a south Andean Proteaceae
Geographic variation
in foliar and floral traits and their degree of coupling can
reveal which factors act at geographical scales to generate
evolutionary novelty.
Chalcoff et al. (pp. 79–91) analyse
geographic variation in leaves and flowers of
Embothrium coccineum growing along abrupt environmental gradients and exhibiting
contrasting pollinator assemblages.
Maternal environment influences Australian native seed dormancy
Hoyle et al. (pp. 93–101) find that seeds of the Australian native forb
Goodenia fascicularis exhibit physiological dormancy regardless of their maternal
environment. However, seeds from warm, dry environments are
shown to be more responsive to warm stratification than seeds
from cooler, wetter environments and thus to be less dormant
overall.
Carry-over of differential salt tolerance
Redondo-Gómez et al. (pp. 103–112) show that in the halophyte
Suaeda splendens its black and brown
seeds germinate differently in response to NaCl and that differences
persist in their seedlings. Thus, brown seeds germinate at higher
salinity than black seeds and produce seedlings that require
a higher salinity to grow well.
Genetic identity affects species performance in experimental grasslands
Fifteen cultivars
of
Lolium perenne were established in communities of different
plant species and functional group richness by
Roscher et al. (pp. 113–125).
No single cultivar performed best in all experimental communities,
indicating that genetic variation within species provides a
base for larger phenotypic variation. This may affect competitive
ability.
Sunflower responses to combined abiotic stresses
Crops are often
subjected to multiple stresses simultaneously. Using cDNA microarrays,
Hewezi et al. (pp. 127–140) show that sunflower responses
to a combination of high light and high temperature differ from
responses to each stress when applied separately. Interactions
between stresses must therefore be considered when breeding
crops for abiotic stress tolerance.
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