Dataset Information

Kinship rivalry does not trigger specific allocation strategies in Lupinus angustifolius.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Research on the ability of plants to recognize kin and modify plant development to ameliorate competition with coexisting relatives is an area of very active current exploration. Empirical evidence, however, is insufficient to provide a sound picture of this phenomenon.

Methods

An experiment was designed to assess multi-trait phenotypic expression in response to competition with conspecifics of varied degrees of genealogical relatedness. Groups of siblings, cousins and strangers of Lupinus angustifolius were set in competition in a pots assay. Several whole-plant and organ-level traits, directly related to competition for above- and below-ground resources, were measured. In addition, group-level root proliferation was measured as a key response trait to relatedness to neighbours, as identified in previous work.

Key results

No major significant phenotypic differences were found between individuals and groups that could be assigned to the gradient of relatedness used here. This occurred in univariate models, and also when multi-trait interactions were evaluated through multi-group comparisons of Structural Equation Models. Root proliferation was higher in phenotypically more heterogeneous groups, but phenotypic heterogeneity was independent of the relatedness treatments of the experiment, and root proliferation was alike in the neighbourhoods of siblings, cousins and strangers.

Conclusions

In contrast to recent findings in other species, genealogical relatedness to competing neighbours has a negligible impact on the phenotypic expression of individuals and groups of L. angustifolius. This suggests that kin recognition needs further exploration to assess its generality, the ecological scenarios where it might have been favoured or penalized by natural selection, and its preponderance in different plant lineages.

SUBMITTER: Milla R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3380590 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Kinship rivalry does not trigger specific allocation strategies in Lupinus angustifolius.

Milla Rubén R del Burgo Ainhoa Vélez AV Escudero Adrián A Iriondo Jose M JM

Annals of botany 20120503 1

<h4>Background and aims</h4>Research on the ability of plants to recognize kin and modify plant development to ameliorate competition with coexisting relatives is an area of very active current exploration. Empirical evidence, however, is insufficient to provide a sound picture of this phenomenon.<h4>Methods</h4>An experiment was designed to assess multi-trait phenotypic expression in response to competition with conspecifics of varied degrees of genealogical relatedness. Groups of siblings, cou ...[more]

PMID: 22562807

Similar Datasets

Project description:BACKGROUND: In legumes, seed storage proteins are important for the developing seedling and are an important source of protein for humans and animals. Lupinus angustifolius (L.), also known as narrow-leaf lupin (NLL) is a grain legume crop that is gaining recognition as a potential human health food as the grain is high in protein and dietary fibre, gluten-free and low in fat and starch. RESULTS: Genes encoding the seed storage proteins of NLL were characterised by sequencing cDNA clones derived from developing seeds. Four families of seed storage proteins were identified and comprised three unique ?, seven ?, two ? and four ? conglutins. This study added eleven new expressed storage protein genes for the species. A comparison of the deduced amino acid sequences of NLL conglutins with those available for the storage proteins of Lupinus albus (L.), Pisum sativum (L.), Medicago truncatula (L.), Arachis hypogaea (L.) and Glycine max (L.) permitted the analysis of a phylogenetic relationships between proteins and demonstrated, in general, that the strongest conservation occurred within species. In the case of 7S globulin (? conglutins) and 2S sulphur-rich albumin (? conglutins), the analysis suggests that gene duplication occurred after legume speciation. This contrasted with 11S globulin (? conglutin) and basic 7S (? conglutin) sequences where some of these sequences appear to have diverged prior to speciation. The most abundant NLL conglutin family was ? (56%), followed by ? (24%), ? (15%) and ? (6%) and the transcript levels of these genes increased 103 to 106 fold during seed development. We used the 16 NLL conglutin sequences identified here to determine that for individuals specifically allergic to lupin, all seven members of the ? conglutin family were potential allergens. CONCLUSION: This study has characterised 16 seed storage protein genes in NLL including 11 newly-identified members. It has helped lay the foundation for efforts to use molecular breeding approaches to improve lupins, for example by reducing allergens or increasing the expression of specific seed storage protein(s) with desirable nutritional properties.

Dataset Information

Kinship rivalry does not trigger specific allocation strategies in Lupinus angustifolius.

Background and aims

Methods

Key results

Conclusions

Publications

Kinship rivalry does not trigger specific allocation strategies in Lupinus angustifolius.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets