Dataset Information

Does seed mass drive the differences in relative growth rate between growth forms?

ABSTRACT: The idea that herbaceous plants have higher relative growth rates (RGRs) compared with woody plants is fundamental to many of the most influential theories in plant ecology. This difference in growth rate is thought to reflect systematic variation in physiology, allocation and leaf construction. Previous studies documenting this effect have, however, ignored differences in seed mass. As woody species often have larger seeds and RGR is negatively correlated with seed mass, it is entirely possible the lower RGRs observed in woody species is a consequence of having larger seeds rather than different growth strategies. Using a synthesis of the published literature, we explored the relationship between RGR and growth form, accounting for the effects of seed mass and study-specific effects (e.g. duration of study and pot volume), using a mixed-effects model. The model showed that herbaceous species do indeed have higher RGRs than woody species, and that the difference was independent of seed mass, thus at all seed masses, herbaceous species on average grow faster than woody ones.

SUBMITTER: Houghton J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3673064 | biostudies-other | 2013 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:We introduce a microfluidic platform that enables single-cell mass and growth rate measurements upstream of single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) to generate paired single-cell biophysical and transcriptional data sets. Biophysical measurements are collected with a serial suspended microchannel resonator platform (sSMR) that utilizes automated fluidic state switching to load individual cells at fixed intervals, achieving a throughput of 120 cells per hour. Each single-cell is subsequently captured downstream for linked molecular analysis using an automated collection system. From linked measurements of a murine leukemia (L1210) and pro-B cell line (FL5.12), we identify gene expression signatures that correlate significantly with cell mass and growth rate. In particular, we find that both cell lines display a cell-cycle signature that correlates with cell mass, with early and late cell-cycle signatures significantly enriched amongst genes with negative and positive correlations with mass, respectively. FL5.12 cells also show a significant correlation between single-cell growth efficiency and a G1-S transition signature, providing additional transcriptional evidence for a phenomenon previously observed through biophysical measurements alone. Importantly, the throughput and speed of our platform allows for the characterization of phenotypes in dynamic cellular systems. As a proof-of principle, we apply our system to characterize activated murine CD8+ T cells and uncover two unique features of CD8+ T cells as they become proliferative in response to activation: i) the level of coordination between cell cycle gene expression and cell mass increases, and ii) translation-related gene expression increases and shows a correlation with single-cell growth efficiency. Overall, our approach provides a new means of characterizing the transcriptional mechanisms of normal and dysfunctional cellular mass and growth rate regulation across a range of biological contexts.

Dataset Information

Does seed mass drive the differences in relative growth rate between growth forms?

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets