Annals of Botany 2009 103(8):i; doi:10.1093/aob/mcp115
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ContentSnapshots
Regulation of flowering-responses (Invited Review)
Plants respond to
seasonal cues, such as changes in temperature and daylength,
to synchronize flowering with optimal conditions.
Greenup et al. (pp. 1165–1172) compare and contrast the molecular pathways controlling seasonal
flowering responses in the model plant
Arabidopsis with those
of important cereal crops, such as wheat, rice and barley.
Growth model to study plant plasticity
Based on the structure–function
plant growth model GreenLab,
Mathieu et al. (pp. 1173–1186) propose a dynamical system of plant growth where interactions
between organogenesis and functional mechanisms are controlled
by a single variable characteristic of the source–sink
balance of the plant. This model is a step towards a theoretical
tool to explore botanical behaviours and to study the reasons
for plant phenotypic plasticity.
Medieval images of Cucurbitaceae and Solanaceae
Illustrated versions
of medieval manuscripts known as the
Tacuinum Sanitatis contain
a wealth of images of crop plants growing
in situ.
Paris et al. (pp. 1187–1205) establish the identity of the cucurbits and nightshades, most
of which closely resemble extant market types. The depictions
include some of the earliest known images of cucumber, casaba
melon and aubergine.
Re-synthesizing Nicotiana natural polyploids
Anssour et al. (pp. 1207–1217) create five independent lines of synthetic allotetraploid
Nicotiana x obtusiata by crossing
N. attenuata and
N. obtusifolia and
synthesized autotetraploids of the two species. Examination
of genetic, genomic and phenotypic changes in these synthetic
polyploids compared to those in the naturally occurring allopolyploids
N. quadrivalvis and
N. clevelandii provides new insight into
evolutionary dynamics driven by polyploidy. (
Featured article in ContentSelect on p. v.)
How pitcher age affects prey capture
The properties of
Nepenthes pitcher traps change significantly with pitcher age.
Bauer et al. (pp. 1219–1226) report the development of
trapping efficiency and natural prey capture, nectar secretion,
pitcher odour and properties of the digestive fluid during the
first 2 weeks after pitcher opening. They show that prey capture
is a highly dynamic process strongly influenced by pitcher age.
(
Featured article in ContentSelect on p. v.)
Reproductive success of non-rewarding Cypripedium
Reproductive success
of plants is influenced by various factors. In the slipper orchid
Cypripedium japonicum,
Sun et al. (pp. 1227–1237) find
that an increase in conspecific flower abundance negatively
influences male reproductive success, but has no effect on female
reproductive success. Phenotypic selection analysis indicates
that earlier or asynchronous flowering is advantageous for both
male and female reproductive success.
Stylosanthes adaptation to low-P acid soils
Stylosanthes spp.
(stylo) is one of the most important tropical pasture legumes
used widely on acid soils, where Al toxicity and P deficiency
are two major limiting factors for plant growth.
Du et al. (pp. 1239–1247) suggest that possible physiological mechanisms of stylo adaptation
to low-P acid soils might involve superior ability of the roots
to tolerate Al toxicity and to utilize organic P and Al-P.
Tropical forest in a tangle
Many kinds of attachment
have evolved among climbing plants, such as twining stems, hooks
and tendrils. However, some species can climb by simply attaching
to host vegetation via anchor-like branches.
Ménard et al . (pp. 1249–1259) reveal how a species of
Manihot (Euphorbiaceae) of French Guiana
with this relatively unspecialized climbing mode can grow either
as treelets or branch-climbing phenotypes in open or closed
conditions.
Improving the survival of Digitalis seeds
The literature reports
a variable effect of priming on subsequent seed longevity in
air-dry storage. For mature
Digitalis purpurea seeds,
Butler et al . (pp. 1261–1270) show that priming benefits the shortest-lived fraction of the
seed population, but is detrimental to the longest-lived seeds.
The longevity of aged seeds also increases in response to a
single or multiple cycles of priming.
Allelopathy in subalpine grasslands?
The existence of
allelopathy is often controversial in ecology because of methodological
issues.
Viard-Crétat et al . (pp. 1271–1278) assess
the inhibitive effect of an over-dominant species,
Festuca paniculata,
on neighbouring recruits. Using a pot experiment in natural
conditions, they find that polyphenol release in leachates could
be one of the mechanisms limiting the establishment of other
species. (
Featured article in ContentSelect on p. vi.)
Multiple interaction traits and fitness variation
Fitness depends
on variation in multiple traits.
Milla et al. (pp. 1279–1289) propose that multiple trait interactions in annuals may differ
among populations of a given species, leading to differing fitness
outcomes depending on the way traits interrelate to each other
across ontogeny. Using structural equation modelling, they find
that phenological, growth and reproductive traits exert different
direct and indirect effects over fitness in three populations
of
Lupinus angustifolius from contrasting latitudinal origins.
Modelling germination and primary dormancy release
Chantre et al. (pp. 1291–1301) show that
Lithospermum arvense thermal-germination response
is adequately described by assuming a normal distribution of
both base and maximum germination temperatures in the seed population.
The after-ripening process is characterized by a progressive
increase in the mean maximum-germination temperature and a reduction
in the thermal-time requirements for germination at sub-optimal
temperatures.
Effect of inbreeding on Atriplex germination
Atriplex tatarica has two types of seeds with different dormancy levels.
Kochánková and Mandák (pp. 1303–1313) detect significant correlations between basic population genetic
parameters and population germination characteristics. Individual
seed types are not influenced in the same way: whereas germination
of the dormant type of seed is under strong genetic control,
germination of the non-dormant seed type is not.
Nitrogen remobilization in wheat
Using a pot experiment,
Bancal (pp. 1315–1324) finds that the equation relating
the amount of N in wheat at anthesis to its remobilization afterwards
exhibits a negative intercept, challenging the concept of nitrogen
remobilization efficiency. In plants with intact ears, grain
N filling is determined by sources only (N remobilization and
N uptake), without a direct effect of grain number and thus
of sink size.
Axis position, morphology and function
Normand et al . (pp. 1325–1336) show that the relative position of a mango growth unit, apical
or lateral, affects its morphology (stem and leaf traits) and
functioning (branching, flowering and fruiting). Morphological
traits are involved in different ways in the determinism of
flowering and fruiting. Flowering appears to be regulated by
factors related to the growth-unit's relative position.
Water deficit and summer dormancy in grasses
Some grasses exhibit
summer dormancy, which confers superior drought survival.
Volaire et al. (pp. 1337–1346) show that summer dormancy is triggered only under long days,
invalidating the role of intense water deficit as inductive
in a range of forage and native grasses. However, a late-spring
drought tends to increase ABA accumulation and summer drought
survival in tall fescue and cocksfoot.
Seedling herbivory and species' coexistence
A number of theories
suggest that fluctuation in seedling establishment success facilitates
plant species' coexistence. Working with two UK clover species,
Hanley and Sykes (pp. 1347–1353) suggest that when coupled
with spatio-temporal variation in seedling herbivory, covariance
in seedling growth and defence against herbivore attack is critical
to fluctuations in seedling establishment and thus plant coexistence.
(
Featured article in ContentSelect on p. vi.)
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