Polyploidy induces centromere association

Many species exhibit polyploidy. The presence of more than one diploid set of similar chromosomes in polyploids can affect the assortment of homologous chromosomes, resulting in unbalanced gametes. Therefore, a mechanism is required to ensure the correct assortment and segregation of chromosomes for gamete formation. Ploidy has been shown to affect gene expression. We present in this study an example of a major effect on a phenotype induced by ploidy within the Triticeae. We demonstrate that centromeres associate early during anther development in polyploid species. In contrast, centromeres in diploid species only associate at the onset of meiotic prophase. We propose that this mechanism provides a potential route by which chromosomes can start to be sorted before meiosis in polyploids. This explains previous reports indicating that meiotic prophase is shorter in polyploids than in their diploid progenitors. Even artificial polyploids exhibit this phenotype, suggesting that the mechanism must be present in diploids, but only expressed in the presence of more than one diploid set of chromosomes.     

A MADS domain gene involved in the transition to flowering in Arabidopsis

Flowering time in many plants is triggered by environmental factors that lead to uniform flowering in plant populations, ensuring higher reproductive success. So far, several genes have been identified that are involved in flowering time control. AGL20 (AGAMOUS LIKE 20) is a MADS domain gene from Arabidopsis that is activated in shoot apical meristems during the transition to flowering. By transposon tagging we have identified late flowering agl20 mutants, showing that AGL20 is involved in flowering time control. In previously described late flowering mutants of the long-day and constitutive pathways of floral induction the expression of AGL20 is down-regulated, demonstrating that AGL20 acts downstream to the mutated genes. Moreover, we can show that AGL20 is also regulated by the gibberellin (GA) pathway, indicating that AGL20 integrates signals of different pathways of floral induction and might be a central component for the induction of flowering. In addition, the constitutive expression of AGL20 in Arabidopsis is sufficient for photoperiod independent flowering and the over-expression of the orthologous gene from mustard, MADSA, in the classical short-day tobacco Maryland Mammoth bypasses the strict photoperiodic control of flowering.     

Floral Spray Transformation Can Efficiently Generate Arabidopsis

In this study, floral spray and floral dip were used to replace the vacuum step in the Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of a superoxide dismutase (SOD) gene into Arabidopsis. The transgene was constructed by using a CaMV 35S promoter to drive a rice cytosolic CuZnSOD coding sequence in Arabidopsis. The transgene construct was developed in binary vectors and mobilized into Agrobacterium. When Arabidopsis plants started to initiate flower buds, the primary inflorescence shoots were removed and then transformed by floral spray or floral dip. More than 300 transgenic plants were generated to assess the feasibility of floral spray used in the in planta transformation. The result indicates that the floral spray method of Agrobacterium can achieve rates of in planta transformation comparable to the vacuum-infiltration and floral dip methods. The floral spray method opens up the possibility of in planta transformation of plant species which are too large for dipping or vacuum infiltration.     

Dissecting the causes of variation in intra-inflorescence allocation in a sexually polymorphic species, Fragaria virginiana (Rosaceae)

In this study we dissect the causes of variation in intra-inflorescence allocation in a sexually polymorphic species, Fragaria virginiana. We separated out the effects of resource competition during flowering from those of inflorescence architecture, as well as identified the effects of sex morph and genotype. We found position-based variation in petal length, ovule, pollen, and flower number to be influenced more by architecture than by our resource manipulations during flowering. We also found both genotype- and sex-specific intra-inflorescence patterns. Furthermore, our data indicate that the sex morph-specific intra-inflorescence patterns result from architectural modifications of the basic pattern. In fact, sex-differential intra-inflorescence patterns suggest that fitness through male and female function may be maximized by different resource distribution patterns within the inflorescence and may have been modified by past selection. Specifically, females invested heavily in ovules at positions where fruit set was most likely (primary and secondary), at the expense of flower number and allocation per flower at more distal positions. Whereas functional males invested minimally in ovules at all flower positions and produced the most abundantly flowered inflorescences, hermaphrodites, on the other hand, showed intermediate patterns, implying a compromise between sex functions. We suggest that consideration of intra-inflorescence allocation and inflorescence architecture may reveal the mechanism underlying sexual dimorphism in flower allocation and number.     

Reversion of flowering in Glycine Max (Fabaceae)

Photoperiodic changes, if occurring before a commitment to flowering is established, can alter the morphological pattern of plant development. In this study, Glycine max (L.) Merrill cv. Ransom plants were initially grown under an inductive short-day (SD) photoperiod to promote flower evocation and then transferred to a long-day (LD) photoperiod to delay flower development by reestablishing vegetative growth (SD-LD plants). Some plants were transferred back to SD after 4-LD exposures to repromote flowering (SD-LD-SD plants). Alterations in organ initiation patterns, from floral to vegetative and back to floral, are characteristic of a reversion phenomenon. Morphological features that occurred at the shoot apical meristem in SD, LD, SD-LD, and SD-LD-SD plants were observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Reverted plants initiated floral bracts and resumed initiation of trifoliolate leaves in the two-fifths floral phyllotaxy prior to terminal inflorescence development. When these plants matured, leaf-bract intermediates were positioned on the main stem instead of trifoliolate leaves. Plants transferred back to a SD photoperiod flowered earlier than those left in LD conditions. Results indicated that in plants transferred between SDs and LDs, photoperiod can influence organ initiation in florally evoked, but not committed, G. max plants.     

Geographical and Seasonal Variation in the Richness of Ant-Plant Interactions in México1

The richness and seasonal variation of ant-plant interactions were compared in four habitats in México: lowland tropical dry forest (La Mancha, Veracruz), coastal sand dune matorral (San Benito, Yucatán), semiarid highland vegetation (Zapotitlán, Puebla), and lower montane humid forest (Xalapa, Veracruz). The effects of temperature and precipitation on the seasonal distribution of the number of ant-plant interactions differed among habitats. The general linear models fitted to the ant-plant interaction curves explained 78.8 percent of the variation for La Mancha, 80.1 percent for Zapotitlán, 18 percent for San Benito, and 29.5 percent for Xalapa. Even though rainfall is low in Zapotitlán and San Benito, minimum temperature was the most important factor accounting for the seasonal distribution and low number of interactions. At La Mancha, with milder minimum temperatures and higher water availability, temperature alone did not account for the seasonal distribution and number of interactions, whereas the effect of the precipitation × temperature interaction was highly significant. Xalapa exhibits the lowest temperatures and the highest precipitation, but the role of these factors was only marginal. We suggest that the vegetation at Xalapa, a mixture of tropical and temperate floristic elements, constrains ant-plant interactions due to a limited presence of nectaries. Also, ants are less abundant in cool and relatively aseasonal habitats. The other habitats have tropical floristic elements that are abundant and frequently have nectar-producing structures. We report considerable variation among habitats in the number and seasonal distribution of ant-plant interactions, and suggest that it is due to the effect of variation in environmental parameters, the richness of plants with nectaries in the vegetation, and habitat heterogeneity.     

The relationships between Apocrita wasp populations and flowering plants in Maine's wild lowbush blueberry agroecosystems

This was the first study to have surveyed the spatial and temporal structure of Apocrita wasps in lowbush blueberry fields, a unique native agricultural landscape in Maine and eastern Canada. The relative abundances of wasps associated with lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium Ait.) were investigated in 33 blueberry fields throughout Washington County, Maine, USA. Native wasps were captured during the springs and summers of 1997 and 1998 in Malaise traps erected along a transect in each field. Vegetation sampling was also conducted along these transects to quantify available floral resources. Data indicate the abundance of the total wasp community was positively associated with the abundance of sheep laurel (Kalmia angustifolia L.). Relationships between trap capture of 13 wasp morphospecies and other flowering weeds were also investigated. Most taxa in 1998 were positively associated with one or more of the following flowering plants: bunchberry (Cornus canadensis L.), bush honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera P. Mill.), dogbane (Apocynum androsaemifolium L.), sheep laurel, and witherod (Viburnum nudum var. cassinoides L.). Similar results were not evident in 1997 because the method used to sample vegetation was not as extensive as that used in 1998. However, sheep laurel was positively associated with the wasp genera Microplitis spp. and Phanerotoma spp. during both years.