Current Science

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Influence of Nutrient Availability on the Reproduction and Offspring Growth in Vicia grandiflora


Affiliations
1 Department of Geobotany and Plant Ecology, University of Lodz, 90-237 Lodz, Poland
 

Experiments were conducted to study the impact of nutrient availability on reproductive output and maternal effects. In plants grown under higher nutrient conditions, the reproductive biomass, the number of pods per plant, the number of seeds per plant and the total seed biomass were greater. Germination percentage was greater in large seeds, but small seeds germinated earlier than large ones. Mean total content of nitrogen increased with increasing seed size and was higher in high nutrient treatment. A correlation analysis of plants of the two nutrient treatments showed that seed number per pod was negatively correlated with pod number per plant with no correlation between mean seed mass per plant and the total number of seeds produced per plant. Nutrient levels significantly affected ischolar_main/shoot ratio which decreased as nitrogen supply increased. This study showed that Vicia grandiflora reproduction and offspring competitiveness can strongly influence fertilization regimes used in different agronomic crops and rotations.

Keywords

Maternal Effects, Nitrogen, Seed Nitrogen Content, Seed Size.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Harper, J. L., Population Biology of Plants, Academic Press, London, UK, 1977.

  • Parrish, J. A. D. and Bazzaz, F. A., Nutrient content of Abutilon theophrasti seeds and the competitive ability of the resulting plants. Oecologia, 1985, 65, 247−251.

  • Tungate, K. D., Susko, D. J. and Rufty, T. W., Reproduction and offspring competitiveness of Senna obtusifolia are influenced by nutrient availability. New Phytol., 2002, 154, 661−669.

  • Roach, D. A. and Wulf, R. D., Maternal effects in plants. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 1987, 18, 209−235.

  • Aarssen, L. W. and Burton, S. M., Maternal effects at four levels in Senecio vulgaris (Asteraceae) grown on a soil nutrient gradient. Am. J. Bot., 1990, 77, 1231–1240.

  • Hegi, G., Illustrierte Flora von Mittel-Europa. Dicotyledons, J. F. Lehmanns, München, 1975.

  • Baskin, C. C. and Baskin, J. M., Seeds: Ecology, Biogeography, and Evolution of Dormancy and Germination, Elsevier Academic Press, San Diego, 2014.

  • Page, A. L., Miller, R. H. and Keeney, D. R., Methods of Soil Analysis. Part 2. Chemical and Microbiological Properties, American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI, 1982.

  • Khan, M. A. and Ungar, I. A., Effect of thermoperiod on recovery of seed germination of halophytes from saline conditions. Am. J. Bot., 1997, 84, 279–283.

  • Hoffmann, W. A. and Poorter, H., Avoiding bias in calculations of relative growth rate. Ann. Bot., 2002, 90, 37−42.

  • Halpern, S. L., Sources and consequences of seed size variation in Lupinus perennis (Fabaceae): adaptive and non-adaptive hypotheses. Am. J. Bot., 2005, 92, 205–213.

  • Byers, D. L., Platenkamp, G. A. and Shaw, R. G., Variation in seed characters in Nemophila menziesii: evidence of a genetic basis for maternal effect. Evolution, 1997, 51, 1445–1456.

  • Castro, J., Seed mass versus seedling performance in Scots pine: a maternally dependent trait. New Phytol., 1999, 144, 153–161.

  • Siemens, D. H. and Johnson, C. D., Number of seeds per pod in three species of perennial legumes: a compromise between ecological and physiological constraints? Am. Midl. Nat., 1995, 133, 197−205.

  • Zhang, J. and Maun, M. A., Seed size variation and its effects on seedling growth in Agropyron psammiphilum. Bot. Gaz., 1990, 151, 106−113.

  • Gross, K. L., Effects of seed size and growth form on seedling establishment of six monocarpic perennial plants. J. Ecol., 1984, 72, 369−387.

  • Bewley, J. D. and Black, M., Seeds: Physiology of Development and Germination, Plenum Press, New York, 1985.

  • Bonifas, K. D., Walters, D. T. and Cassman, K. G., Nitrogen supply affects ischolar_main : shoot ratio in corn and velvetleaf (Abutilon theophrasti). Weed Sci., 2005, 53, 670–675.

  • McConnaughay, K. D. M. and Coleman, J. S., Biomass allocation in plants: ontogeny or optimality? A test along three resource gradients. Ecology, 1999, 80, 2581–2593.

  • Wang, J. R., Hawkins, C. D. B. and Letchford, T., Relative growth rate and biomass allocation of paper birch (Betula papyrifera) populations under different soil moisture and nutrient regimes. Can. J. For. Res., 1998, 28, 44−55.

  • Austin, R. B., The growth of watercress (Rorippa nasturtium aquaticum (L) Hayek) from seed as affected by the phosphorus nutrition of the parent plant. Plant Soil, 1966, 24, 113–120.

  • Wulff, R. D., Seed size variation in Desmodium paniculatum I. Factors affecting seed size. J. Ecol., 1981, 74, 87−97.

  • Jeuffroy, M. H., Duthion, C., Meynard, J. M. and Pigeaire, A., Effect of a short period of high day temperatures during flowering on the seed number per pod of pea (Pisum sativum L). Agronomie, 1990, 10, 139–145.

  • Jeong, N., Moon, J. K., Kim, H. S., Kim, C. G. and Jeong, S. C., Fine genetic mapping of the genomic region controlling leaflet shape and number of seeds per pod in the soybean. Theor. Appl. Genet., 2011, 122, 865–874.


Abstract Views: 331

PDF Views: 109




  • Influence of Nutrient Availability on the Reproduction and Offspring Growth in Vicia grandiflora

Abstract Views: 331  |  PDF Views: 109

Authors

Jeromi Kolodziejek
Department of Geobotany and Plant Ecology, University of Lodz, 90-237 Lodz, Poland

Abstract


Experiments were conducted to study the impact of nutrient availability on reproductive output and maternal effects. In plants grown under higher nutrient conditions, the reproductive biomass, the number of pods per plant, the number of seeds per plant and the total seed biomass were greater. Germination percentage was greater in large seeds, but small seeds germinated earlier than large ones. Mean total content of nitrogen increased with increasing seed size and was higher in high nutrient treatment. A correlation analysis of plants of the two nutrient treatments showed that seed number per pod was negatively correlated with pod number per plant with no correlation between mean seed mass per plant and the total number of seeds produced per plant. Nutrient levels significantly affected ischolar_main/shoot ratio which decreased as nitrogen supply increased. This study showed that Vicia grandiflora reproduction and offspring competitiveness can strongly influence fertilization regimes used in different agronomic crops and rotations.

Keywords


Maternal Effects, Nitrogen, Seed Nitrogen Content, Seed Size.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv117%2Fi9%2F1526-1531