Dataset Information

Perennially young: seed production and quality in controlled and natural populations of Cistus albidus reveal compensatory mechanisms that prevent senescence in terms of seed yield and viability.

ABSTRACT: The question of whether or not perennial plants senesce at the organism level remains unresolved. The aim of this study was to unravel whether or not plant age can influence the production and composition of seeds. Flower and seed production was examined in 3-, 8-, and 13-year-old Cistus albidus plants growing in experimental plots corresponding to the F2, F1, and F0 generations of the same population. Furthermore, the phytohormone, fatty acid, and vitamin E content of the seeds was evaluated, and their viability was examined. Whether or not age-related differences in seed quality were observed in a natural population in the Montserrat Mountains (NE Spain) was also tested. The results indicate that under controlled conditions, the oldest plants not only produced fewer flowers, but also had higher rates of embryo abortion in mature seeds. However, germination capacity was not negatively affected by plant ageing. Seeds of the oldest plants contained significantly higher salicylic acid, jasmonic acid, and vitamin E levels compared with those from younger plants. Despite vigour (in terms of plant growth) being severely reduced due to harsh environmental conditions in the natural population, the oldest individuals produced seeds with no decline in viability. Seed biomass was instead positively correlated with seed viability. In conclusion, increased plant size may explain the loss of seed viability in the experimental field, but older smaller individuals in natural populations can escape senescence in terms of seed viability loss.

SUBMITTER: Muller M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3883297 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Perennially young: seed production and quality in controlled and natural populations of Cistus albidus reveal compensatory mechanisms that prevent senescence in terms of seed yield and viability.

Müller Maren M Siles Laura L Cela Jana J Munné-Bosch Sergi S

Journal of experimental botany 20131111 1

The question of whether or not perennial plants senesce at the organism level remains unresolved. The aim of this study was to unravel whether or not plant age can influence the production and composition of seeds. Flower and seed production was examined in 3-, 8-, and 13-year-old Cistus albidus plants growing in experimental plots corresponding to the F2, F1, and F0 generations of the same population. Furthermore, the phytohormone, fatty acid, and vitamin E content of the seeds was evaluated, a ...[more]

PMID: 24218328

Similar Datasets

Project description:Plants may exhibit some degree of acclimation after experiencing drought, but physiological adjustments to consecutive cycles of drought and re-watering (recovery) have scarcely been studied. The Mediterranean evergreen holm oak (Q. ilex) and the semi-deciduous rockrose (C. albidus) showed some degree of acclimation after the first of three drought cycles (S1, S2, and S3). For instance, during S2 and S3 both species retained higher relative leaf water contents than during S1, despite reaching similar leaf water potentials. However, both species showed remarkable differences in their photosynthetic acclimation to repeated drought cycles. Both species decreased photosynthesis to a similar extent during the three cycles (20-40% of control values). However, after S1 and S2, photosynthesis recovered only to 80% of control values in holm oak, due to persistently low stomatal (g(s)) and mesophyll (g(m)) conductances to CO(2). Moreover, leaf intrinsic water use efficiency (WUE) was kept almost constant in this species during the entire experiment. By contrast, photosynthesis of rockrose recovered almost completely after each drought cycle (90-100% of control values), while the WUE was largely and permanently increased (by 50-150%, depending on the day) after S1. This was due to a regulation which consisted in keeping g(s) low (recovering to 50-60% of control values after re-watering) while maintaining a high g(m) (even exceeding control values during re-watering). While the mechanisms to achieve such particular regulation of water and CO(2) diffusion in leaves are unknown, it clearly represents a unique acclimation feature of this species after a drought cycle, which allows it a much better performance during successive drought events. Thus, differences in the photosynthetic acclimation to repeated drought cycles can have important consequences on the relative fitness of different Mediterranean species or growth forms within the frame of climate change scenarios.

Dataset Information

Perennially young: seed production and quality in controlled and natural populations of Cistus albidus reveal compensatory mechanisms that prevent senescence in terms of seed yield and viability.

Publications

Perennially young: seed production and quality in controlled and natural populations of Cistus albidus reveal compensatory mechanisms that prevent senescence in terms of seed yield and viability.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets