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AOBPreview published online on January 20, 2005
Annals of Botany, doi:10.1093/aob/mci061
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Annals of Botany © Annals of Botany Company 2005; all rights reserved
Received September 2, 2004
Revised October 13, 2004
Accepted November 15, 2004

Article

Evolutionary Transition from Resprouter to Seeder Life History in Two Erica (Ericaceae) Species: Insights from Seedling Axillary Buds

DOLORS VERDAGUER 1 and FERNANDO OJEDA 2*

1 Àrea de Fisiología Vegetal, Depto de Ciències Ambientals, Universitat de Girona, Campus de Montilivi, 17071-Girona, Spain
2 Depto de Biología, CASEM, Universidad de Cádiz, Campus Río San Pedro, 11510-Puerto Real, Spain

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
FERNANDO OJEDA, E-mail: fernando.ojeda{at}uca.es


  Abstract

• Background and Aims The genus Erica represents the epitome of plant biodiversity in the South African Cape region. It includes seeder and resprouter species, but both species diversity and narrow endemism are tightly associated with the seeder habit. It also includes ‘mixed’ species, in which both seeder and resprouter life histories are found. This intraspecific variation in life history is genetically based.

• Methods The cotyledonary region and basal stem of seeder and resprouter seedlings of two ‘mixed’ species, Erica calycina and E. coccinea, were examined to detect morphological and anatomical differences in axillary bud development between regeneration forms.

• Key Results While at least some bud activity was observed for resprouter seedlings, none was detected for seeder seedlings. A closer examination allowed the detection of some axillary buds in seeder seedlings of the two species, but they appeared in an unequivocally atrophied state.

• Conclusions The seeder and resprouter life histories are two character states and the seeder one (i.e. loss of resprouting) is derived within these two Erica species. Results allow the hypothesis that the loss of resprouting in a fire-prone scenario such as the Cape fynbos has promoted high diversification rates in seeder Erica lineages.

Keywords: Axillary buds, Cape floristic region, cotyledonary region, fynbos, Erica, lignotuber, resprouter, rudimentary characters, seeder.
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