Vivipary in Ophiorrhiza mungos L. – a rare phenomenon in angiosperms

Vivipary, the precocious germination of seeds within the parent plant, is a specialised feature of evolutionary and biological importance that ensures survival of a plant. Reports on vivipary in angiosperms are rare, accounting for <0.1% of flowering plants. Here, we report a remarkable case of occurrence of vivipary in Ophiorrhiza mungos. A study was conducted to collect information on the morphology of the capsules that support vivipary, environmental factors that induce vivipary, survival mode and the survival of viviparous seedlings. The hydroscopic movement of the cup‐shaped capsules of O. mungos was found to help in viviparous germination during the rainy season. Of the total seeds in a capsule, 70% showed viviparous germination. The seedlings remaining inside the capsule attain a height of 0.98 ± 0.4 cm and reach the ground when the capsule falls. On the ground, seedlings obtain easy anchorage to the substratum since they have already germinated. Vivipary appears to be an adaptation of O. mungos to the rainy season for ensuring viable offspring. This suggests that vivipary in this species might be artificially induced by continuous spraying with water to rescue seeds in all seasons for use in large‐scale propagation to meet increasing market demand and conservation of this valuable anticancer medicinal herb.     

Early Events in Maize Seed Development : 1-Methyl-3-phenyl-5-(3-[trifluoromethyl]phenyl)-4-(1H)-Pyridinone Induction of Vivipary

Preharvest sprouting or vivipary is induced in developing maize (Zea mays, inbred Tx 5855 and Va 35) seeds by fluridone, a pyridinone inhibitor of carotenoid biosynthesis. Fluridone has a maximal effect on vivipary at 11 days after pollination (DAP) and little effect at 13 DAP in the inbred maize line Tx 5855. Abscisic acid partially reversed the chemically induced vivipary. Though the precise mechanism of fluridone-induced vivipary is unknown, these results indicate that there are important developmental changes occurring at 11 DAP which reversibly commit the immature embryo to vivipary or dormancy.     

Molecular phylogenetic analysis of mangroves: independent evolutionary origins of vivipary and salt secretion

The most remarkable morphological specializations of mangroves are vivipary, salt secretion, and aerial roots. There has been a long debate on whether the complex traits vivipary and secreters have a single origin, the answer to which has profound implications for the mechanism of evolution in mangroves. We took a large and representative sample across mangroves and sequenced the 18S rRNA, rbcL, and matR genes. Together with the outgroups, our data yielded a high resolution phylogeny which allowed us to gain much needed insight into the distributions of the two characters and address their evolutionary origins. For each character, its ancestral state in the phylogeny was estimated by the maximum likelihood method. Overall evidence is in favor of a multiple origin for both vivipary and salt secretion in mangroves.     

植物营养体胎生研究进展

营养体胎生是植物体上的营养器官如胞芽、珠芽、不定芽、叶片等成熟后不脱落,直接吸取母体营养继续生长发育,在自然状态下脱离形成新的植株。营养体胎生植物的种类较多,大多是在长期适应干旱、冷凉、高温等恶劣环境条件下进化出的结果,是繁育途径的一个重要补充。与传统的无性繁殖方式相比,繁殖系数较高,可实现高效再生,且病毒感染率较低,在实际生产中具有重要的应用价值。从胎生器官的形态发育、生理生化、分子水平和再生繁殖特性4个方面进行了综述,目前研究还处于起步阶段,对引起胎生现象的本质还没有得到系统解答,指出存在的不足,并对未来的研究方向进行了展望,关于营养体胎生形成机理的调控和重要功能基因的挖掘,以及胎生苗如何适应新的环境变化也是未来的研究方向。因此,研究营养体胎生适应性现象的本质及其进化将为植物种群的繁衍、规模化生产和应用、生物多样性保护等提供理论依据。     

Vivipary in coastal cacti: a potential reproductive strategy in halophytic environments

Vivipary, the germination of seeds within the fruit prior to abscission from the maternal plant, is an important event in plants. Two main types of vivipary are known in vascular plants: true vivipary and pseudovivipary. In crop grasses, pseudovivipary is an undesirable character as it results in lower yields. To date, vivipary in the Cactaceae has been reported for less than 20 species, most of which are cultivated. Here, we report viviparous (cryptoviviparous-a subcategory of true vivipary) cacti in nature in members of the tribes Cacteae and Pachycereeae (subfamily Cactoideae). We present four species inhabiting coastal plains in areas subject to periodic flooding, namely, Ferocactus herrerae, Stenocereus alamosensis, S. thurberi, and Pachycereus schottii. These species from localities in northwestern Mexico had viviparous fruits and offspring in different stages of development. A potential trend in the data indicates that the overall proportion of viviparous plants is higher in coastal flooding areas relative to halophytic, nonflooding areas. In our view, vivipary is a reproductive strategy that has evolved to provide a more efficient mechanism favoring germination and new avenues for survival by contributing to population maintenance and short-distance dispersal on halophytic substrates.     

Facultative Vivipary is a Life-History Trait in Caenorhabditis elegans

Organisms partition their resources among growth, maintenance, and reproduction and, when resources become limiting, the allocation to one process necessitates reduced allocation to others. When starved, Caenorhabditis elegans adults retain progeny internally which then consume the parent body contents, and some of those larvae use the resources to reach the resistant, long-lived dauer stage. If starved under similarly extreme conditions, larvae from eggs laid outside of the body are unable to develop into dauers. We interpret this switch from ovipary, or laying eggs, to bearing live young as facultative vivipary. This switch is induced by starvation of late fourth-stage larvae, young adults, or gravid adults. In C. elegans, vivipary is the altruistic allocation of all available parental energy and nutrients to progeny, with the associated costs to adult hermaphrodites of truncated life span and fecundity. As a life-history trait, facultative vivipary is a survival-enhancing response to stress that may provide insights into the evolution of reproduction and longevity.     

Induction of vivipary in Arabidopsis by silique culture: implications for seed dormancy and germination

Culture of excised fruits (siliques) of different ages of Arabidopsis thaliana in a solidified mineral salt medium supplemented with vitamins, myo-inositol, and 3% sucrose induces vivipary. Whereas early stage and immature embryos complete their full development before germinating viviparously in seeds enclosed in the silique, mature green embryos enclosed in green ovules germinate without further growth in culture. Vivipary is not observed in cultured siliques enclosing brown ovules with yellowish mature embryos inside. Suggestive of a role for abscisic acid in preventing vivipary on the mother plant, addition of the hormone to the culture medium is found to inhibit vivipary in cultured siliques. Although dried green ovules enclosing mature embryos require a cold treatment for germination, undried ovules of the same age do not germinate even after a cold treatment. This indicates that mature embryos enclosed in green ovules that germinate viviparously are cold resistant and have not become dormant at the time of culture of siliques. The circumvention by silique culture of a cold treatment and light exposure normally required for germination of isolated seeds of A. thaliana provides new possibilities to study the molecular biology of vivipary and seed germination in this model plant.     

Interspecific Variations in Responses of Mangrove Seedlings to Two Contrasting Salinities

The growth performance of seedlings of seven species of true mangroves (Avicennia marina, A. officinalis, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, B. sexangula, Rhizophora apiculata, R. mucronata, and Sonneratia caseolaris) in response to two contrasting salinity regimes, low (i.e., 3–5) and medium (i.e., 25–27), was studied. Species represented all categories relevant to vivipary (i.e., true viviparous species, cryptoviviparous species and non‐viviparous species), and included closely related pairs as well as species commonly used in replanting in Sri Lanka. Species could be ranked in descending order of salinity tolerance as A. marina > R. mucronata > R. apiculata >B. gymnorrhiza > A. officinalis > B. sexangula > S. caseolaris, hence taxonomically similar species and those sharing vivipary characteristics may be distant in salinity tolerance. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

种子胎萌机制研究进展

种子胎萌是内在的遗传基础和外部环境共同作用的结果,受许多基因的调控和植物激素的影响。近些年来,随着分子生物学的快速发展,种子胎萌研究已经深入到分子水平。分子生物学技术的运用,特别是基因的克隆与表达、植物激素的生物合成与信号转导和分子遗传学等手段已成为研究种子胎萌的新工具和新方向。现从种皮色泽基因R、矮杆基因Rht3以及Viviparous(Vp)基因家族等方面就种子胎萌相关基因与胎萌关系进行了综述;并对植物激素脱落酸(ABA)和赤霉素(GA)的生物合成或信号转导在种子胎萌的调控中的作用等方面进行综述。     

Taxonomic status of Cuscuta nevadensis and C. veatchii (Convolvulaceae) in North America

The taxonomy ofCuscuta nevadensis andC. veatchii is investigated.Cuscuta nevadensis is more closely related toC. veatchii andC. denticulata than toC. salina, and the former two taxa are accepted as species. A summary of relevant taxonomic and biological information is provided, including synonymy, distribution and ecology, keys, and a comparison of the morphology of flowers and seeds are examined. The morphological basis of vivipary inC. nevadensis is discussed. The status ofCuscuta vivipara, an invalid name in recent use, is clarified.     

Gibberellins and seed development in maize. I. Evidence that gibberellin/abscisic acid balance governs germination versus maturation pathways

Abscisic acid (ABA) is required for the regulation of seed maturation in maize (Zea mays L.). Mutants blocked in ABA synthesis (such as viviparous-5) do not mature to quiescent, desiccation-tolerant seeds, but germinate on the ear midway through kernel development. Because gibberellins (GA) and ABA act antagonistically in many aspects of plant development, we hypothesized that ABA antagonizes a positive GA signal for precocious germination in maize. In these experiments, we show that a GA deficiency early in seed development, induced genetically or via biosynthesis inhibitors, suppresses vivipary in ABA-deficient developing kernels. The resulting seeds have both desiccation tolerance and storage longevity. Temporal analysis of GA accumulation in wild-type kernels revealed the accumulation of bioactive GA(1) and GA(3) prior to the peak in ABA content. We speculate that these GAs stimulate a developmental program leading to vivipary in the absence of normal amounts of ABA, and that a reduction of GA content re-establishes an ABA/GA ratio appropriate for suppression of germination and induction of maturation. In contrast, the induction of a GA deficiency did not suppress vivipary in viviparous-1 mutant kernels, suggesting that VP1 acts downstream of both GA and ABA in programming seed development.     

The sessile oak: Anomalies of the binomial

Summary

Plantlets of viviparous grasses produce mature vegetative plants of greater stature than those from seeds of closely related seed-bearing grasses. Results from mixed populations of Festuca vivipara and F. ovina indicate size differences are maintained at flowering. Viable plantlets do not dehisce readily from mature panicles and when detached artificially require a large amount of free water to germinate. Results are discussed with reference to the occurrence of vivipary in Scottish grasses and its success in upland zones.     

Vivipary in the Cactaceae: Its taxonomic occurrence and biological significance

Vivipary, a rare reproductive strategy in flowering plants, has been previously reported in only four species of the Cactaceae. In this paper, eight additional examples (Cleistocactus smaragdiflorus, Disocactus martianus, the hybrid Epiphyllum X Fern la Borde, Harrisia martinii, Lepismium ianthothele, L. monacanthum, Rhipsalis micrantha forma micrantha, and R. baccifera subsp. horrida) of vivipary in cultivated cacti from tribes Hylocereeae, Rhipsalideae, and Trichocereeae are documented. The plants had fully-developed and mature fruits containing seeds at different stages of germination, including tiny embryos emerging from the seed coat to young, healthy seedlings with well-developed organs, such as cotyledons and radicles. Several features, though not unique, distinguish cactus fruits with viviparous seedlings. Foremost, the fruits are fleshy with abundant mucilage and a relatively thick, often transparent pericarp. The seeds are generally numerous and embedded in a transparent, white or red pulp. The occurrence of vivipary in taxa from four phylogenetically distinct tribes of the subfamily Cactoideae suggests an independent origin and indicates that this reproductive strategy may be more widespread in the family than originally thought. Vivipary in the Cactaceae is regarded as a form of cryptovivipary, a condition in which the zygote develops inside the fruit without penetrating the ovary wall for dispersal purposes, which in turn is considered a subcategory of true vivipary. Further, vivipary is interpreted as an adaptive reproductive strategy that enables seedlings to establish more rapidly.     

Experimental control of flowering and vivipary in timothy (Phleum pratense)

Environmental and hormonal control of flowering and vivipary in four Norwegian timothy ( Phleum pratense L.) cultivars has been studied in phytotron and by aseptic culture of inflorescence explants. The critical photoperiod for flowering increased with increasing temperature (12–18°C) and it was 13 to 15 h for the southern and 14 to 16.5 h for the northern cultivars. Diurnal temperature fluctuation significantly stimulated flower formation compared to the corresponding constant temperature treatment. Plants grown in 16-h photoperiod contained normal sexual flowers, but a high percentage of spikes developed in 12- or 14-h photoperiod contained viviparous plantlets. One- to four-weeks in continuous light before treatment with 12-h photoperiod increased the number of spikes per plant, but did not enhance the frequency of vivipary. Experiments with aseptic cultures showed that generative versus vegetative development of timothy inflorescence was affected by plant hormones. Kinetin stimulated the vegetative development and induced proliferation both in inflorescence initials and in spikelets isolated at heading time.     

红树胎生现象及其对潮间带生境适应性研究进展

热带亚热带海岸潮间带的高盐、淹水、土壤缺氧和潮水冲击等不良环境因子导致了红树植物在形态、生理和生态方面的特异性 ,尤其是其独特的胎生现象。从红树植物胎生繁殖体在母体的发育过程和繁殖体落地后对潮间带生境的适应两个角度探讨了红树植物胎生现象的适应意义。红树植物的胎生现象是对潮间带盐胁迫、淹水、土壤缺氧和潮水冲击等综合生境的适应 ,而不是单独其中一种胁迫因子的适应。红树植物胎生繁殖体在母体的发育过程中通过能量积累、渗透调节、形态完善等过程为掉落以后适应潮间生境做准备 ,掉落的胎生繁殖体依靠从母体获得的能量和营养克服潮间带的盐胁迫、淹水、土壤缺氧和潮水冲击等多重胁迫。红树植物胎生繁殖体落地后的能量收支平衡是决定繁殖体定居成功与否的关键 ,而胎生现象的意义正是通过胎生繁殖体在母体发育过程中积累足够的能量和营养来适应潮间带生境。红树植物胎生繁殖体落地后苗木在潮间带滩涂的生长发育过程中存在一个能量“阈限”,能阈的高低决定于潮间带生境的恶劣程度 ,而突破能阈能力决定于胎生繁殖体所携带的能量与营养的数量。这为红树林湿地恢复提供了理论基础 ,但还需要更多的证据来支持该理论     

Premeiotic endomitosis and the costs and benefits of asexual reproduction

Different patterns of development can influence the strength and direction of selection of a trait. Here, it is shown how this may be the case for asexual reproduction in which eggs (animals) or spores (plants) inherit the maternal chromosome number through a precursor cell undergoing an endoduplication of its chromosomes prior to meiotic reduction. Asexuality involving premeiotic endoduplication (APE) has a wide but uneven distribution among animals and plants. It is argued that different patterns of egg and spore production and differences in when endoduplication occurs, together with differences in breeding structure (dioecious vs. hermaphroditic) and reproductive strategy (e.g. spawning vs. vivipary), can result in APE being associated with fecundity costs that can result in an overall cost of sex or in an overall cost of asex or in APE being selectively neutral relative to sex. There is a lack of a close correlation between the taxonomic distribution of APE and its potential costs and benefits however, possible causes of which are explored. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013, 109 , 487–495.     

Seed traits and genes important for translational biology--highlights from recent discoveries

Seeds provide food, feed, fiber and fuel. They are also an important delivery system of genetic information, which is essential for the survival of wild species in ecosystems and the production of agricultural crops. In this review, seed traits and genes that are potentially important for agricultural applications are discussed. Over the long period of crop domestication, seed traits have been modified through intentional or unintentional selections. While most selections have led to seed traits favorable for agricultural consumption, such as larger seeds with higher nutritional value than the wild type, other manipulations in modern breeding sometimes led to negative traits, such as vivipary, precocious germination on the maternal plant or reduced seed vigor, as a side effect during the improvement of other characteristics. Greater effort is needed to overcome these problems that have emerged as a consequence of crop improvement. Seed biology researchers have characterized the function of many genes in the last decade, including those associated with seed domestication, which may be useful in addressing critical issues in modern agriculture, such as the prevention of vivipary and seed shattering or the enhancement of yields. Recent discoveries in seed biology research are highlighted in this review, with an emphasis on their potential for translational biology.     

A viviparous mutant of maize exhibiting permanent water stress symptoms

In maize vivipary, the precocious germination of the seed while it is still attached to the ear is a reliable phenotype for the identification of mutants impaired in the biosynthesis or response to abscisic acid (ABA). Here we present the characterization of a new allele of vp10, a gene encoding for a cofactor (MoCo) required for the last step of ABA biosynthesis. The lesion in this gene leads to a reduction in the endogenous ABA level. Embryonic messenger RNAs of the ABA inducible genes glb1, lea3, and rab17 are barely detectable, although their level increases when stimulated by exogenous ABA administration. These findings confirm that the mutant can be ascribed to a defect in ABA biosynthesis. In the absence of water stress, mutant plants grow like wild-type siblings; however when mutant tissues are exposed to air they differ from non-mutant ones by showing a higher rate of water loss, of transpiration and of stomatal conductance. These events are restored to almost normal values by adding exogenous ABA. All these defects are ascribable to an impairment in the regulation of stomatal opening since, in contrast to wild-type, some of the mutant stomata exhibit partially or totally open rims. The defect in ABA biosynthesis is also associated with loss of regulation of the expression of rab17 and rab28, two genes expressed in vegetative tissues under abiotic stress. These genes are constitutively expressed in the mutant plant tissues independently of the water regime applied. Thus this mutant may provide a tool for the study of molecular mechanisms underlying drought-stress responses in crop plants.     

The production of callus capable of plant regeneration from immature embryos of numerous Zea mays genotypes

In the summer of 1983, immature embryos from 101 selfed inbred lines and germplasm stocks of Zea mays L. were examined for their ability to produce callus cultures capable of plant regeneration (regenerable cultures) using a medium with which some limited success had previously been obtained. Forty-nine of the genotypes (49%) produced callus which visually appeared similar to callus previously cultured and shown to be capable of plant regeneration. After five months, 38 of these genotypes were alive in culture and plants were subsequently regenerated from 35 (92%) of them. No correlation was observed between plant regeneration and callus growth rate, the vivipary mutation (genes vp1, 2, 5, 7, 8 and 9), or published vigor ratings based on K⁺ uptake by roots. When F₁ hybrid embryos were cultured, 97% of the hybrids having at least one regenerable parent also produced callus capable of plant regeneration. No regenerable cultures were obtained from any hybrid lacking a parent capable of producing a regenerable callus culture.In the summer of 1984, immature embryos from 218 additional inbred lines and germplasm stocks were plated and examined for their ability to produce regenerable callus cultures on media containing altered micronutrient concentrations, 3,6-dichloro-o-anisic acid (dicamba), glucose, and elevated levels of vitamin-free casamino acids and thiamine. Of these genotypes 199 (91%) produced callus that was regenerable in appearance. In the 1984 study, plant regeneration was noted in many commercially important inbreds, including B73, Mo17, B84, A632, A634, Ms71, W117, H99³H95 and Cm105. Thus tissue-culture techniques are now available to obtain callus cultures capable of plant regeneration from immature embryos of most maize genotypes.Abbreviations trade names 2,4-D 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid - dicamba 3,6-dichloro-o-anisic acid