Developmental quantitative genetics of growth in Populus

 Nursery growth and dry weight were analyzed for F₂ genotypes derived from Populus trichocarpa×P. deltoides that have been field tested with clonal replicates in three different environments. The correlations between nursery and plantation performance differed among the environments, with higher values at Boardman and Clatskanie (both planted with rooted cuttings) than Puyallup (planted with unrooted cuttings). At Puyallup, nursery height was more strongly associated with plantation growth than were nursery diameter and dry weight. Yet, this finding was not supported by QTL mapping. A single overdominant QTL on linkage group G affected the stem height of both seedlings and resprouts in the nursery but showed nonsignificant LOD scores for plantation height from ages 1 to 5 at Puyallup. A total of four QTLs were identified for nursery diameter, one of which on linkage group O also controlled plantation basal area at all ages. Two important nursery QTLs on linkage groups B and G were used to estimate the relative efficiency of marker-assisted selection for plantation productivity. Despite the fact that they were not detected in the plantation stage, these two QTLs could significantly increase the proportion of the phenotypic variance explained by plantation QTLs. Received: 5 February 1998 / Accepted: 1 April 1998     

不同发育阶段水稻苗高的QTL分析

分析了不同发育阶段控制水稻苗高的QTL,用5个阶段和4个净增长量的数据共检测到9个QTL,分别位于染色体1,4,6,7,8,11,和12号上。SH－4是主基因,它在各个阶段都表达,对苗高的贡献率在20％以上。结果表明,数量性状的发育或形态建成是由数量性状位点基因选择性表达的结果。     

Seedling disease in an annual legume: consequences for seedling mortality, plant size, and population seed production

The effect of seed and seedling mortality on plant population dynamics depends on the degree to which the growth and reproduction of surviving individuals can compensate for the deaths that occur. To explore this issue, we sowed seeds of the annual Kummerowia stipulacea at three densities in sunken pots in the field, which contained either field soil, microwaved field soil, or microwaved field soil augmented with oospores of three Pythium species. High sowing density reduced seedling establishment and seedling size, but these effects were independent of the soil treatment. In the oospore-augmented soil, seed and seedling survival was low. The surviving plants were initially smaller but, at maturity, average plant size was greatest in the oospore-augmented soil, compared to the other treatments. Total population seed production was unaffected by soil treatment, suggesting that the effect of disease was limited to the seedling stage, with surviving plants released from intraspecific competition. To test the hypothesis that the surviving plants in the oospore-augmented soil were more disease-resistant, seeds from each of the sowing density-soil type treatments were sown in a growth chamber inoculation study. No evidence for selection for resistance was found. A second inoculation experiment revealed that oospore inoculum reduced plant numbers and mass regardless of whether field or microwaved soil was used, suggesting that results from the field experiment were not dependent on the use of microwaved soil. The findings of this study indicate that the ecological effects of disease on individual plants and on plant populations are not necessarily equivalent. Received: 13 January 1999 / Accepted: 21 September 1999     

杂交水稻苗瘟抗性的配合力和遗传力分析

采用7×7不完全双列杂交设计,对反映杂交水稻苗瘟抗性的5个指标进行了配合力和遗传力分析.结果表明,杂交水稻苗瘟抗性遗传力高,受加性和非加性基因效应共同控制,但以加性效应为主;恢复系的苗瘟抗性一般配合力效应明显相对重要于不育系,不育系苗瘟抗性一般配合力效应对F1代的抗性有显著的影响;14个供试亲本中,多恢1号、成恢149、K42A、K40A具有较好的苗瘟抗性一般配合力效应.因此,在杂交水稻抗苗瘟育种中,对恢复系的抗性GCA选择和对亲本的抗性GCA评鉴至关重要,但不应忽视不育系对组合的抗性贡献和对组合的抗性评鉴;多恢1号、成恢149、K42A和K40A可作为优良抗苗瘟亲本加以利用.     

香港乡土树种幼苗在次生林下生长的研究

通过苗木移植试验,测定了２１种香港乡土树种在次生林下的成活率及生长状况。结果表明,大多数种类的幼苗具有一定的耐荫性,可在林下生长;只有极少数种类表现出极耐荫或极不耐荫,导致林下先锋树种幼苗死亡率高的主要原因是荫蔽或因荫蔽而生长不良受病虫害致死。在香港次生林演替中占优势的种类通常具有生长快、稍耐荫,或生长稍慢但耐胁迫等特点。这是对香港退化土地长期适应的结果。鸟播植物在香港次生林中占有重要地位,建议加     

Morphology and anatomy of mature embryos and seedlings in parasitic angiospermCuscuta japonica

Morphological and anatomical features of mature embryos and seedlings were observed at different growth stages in the parasitic angiospermCuscuta japonica Choisy. The spirally coiled embryos from scarified seeds had no cotyledons but possessed blunt radicles. Seeds germinated at 30°C in the dark. Although most embryo cells incubated for 16 h did not have starch grains, the shoot cells of three-day-old seedlings possessed numerous starch grains. After these seedlings were transferred to a lightened growth chamber, all the shoot apical regions of seedlings grown for 6,8, and 10 days became greenish and hooked. Most of the shoot cells, including the green apical parts, contained abundant starch grains. The hooks opened only when one seedling made contact with another seedling. This suggested that the green and hooked shoot apical regions played an important role in searching for and twining about their host plants. In some two-day-old seedlings, the massive roots were circular or semi-circular. This enabled the shoot axes to stand erect on some substratum. It would assist the shoots in making contact with the host plant. In eight-day-old seedlings, the green apical regions also were hooked and the roots were considerably degraded.     

Effects of leaf litter on woody seedlings in xeric successional communities

We investigated the effect of leaf litter on the establishment of Eucalyptus incrassata, a mallee eucalypt. It has been suggested that litter accumulation may hinder seedling establishment, and that the removal of litter may be one of the mechanisms through which fire enhances recruitment. We conducted factorial experiments testing the effects of three kinds of leaf litter on E. incrassata seeds and seedlings at three contiguous sites with different land use histories. One site was an uncleared E. incrassata open mallee woodland (Mallee site), one a cleared area that had been ungrazed for about five years (Pasture site) and the third an area of mallee rolled some 40 years ago and permitted to regenerate (Regrowth site). Litter had no effect on emergence of planted E. incrassata seeds, but emergence differed between sites. Overall, the percentage of seeds that germinated and emerged was substantial (mean 35.2% ± 25.9%). Seedling shoot biomass did not differ between sites or litter treatments. Although seedlings grown in Pasture litter suffered higher mortality rates, overall mortality rates were low (mean 13.2% ± 15.5%), suggesting that leaf litter has little effect on recruitment rates during winter and spring. We conclude that leaf litter does not affect emergence or growth in young E. incrassata seedlings during winter and spring, when most establishment occurs. Our results emphasize the difficulty in predicting litter effects on recruitment.     

Vertebrate frugivory and seed dispersal of a Chihuahuan Desert cactus

Vertebrate frugivory of fleshy-fruited plants may be very important for the recruitment of sexually derived seedlings if it represents the main mechanism of primary seed-dispersal.Opuntia rastrera produces fleshy fruits rich in water and sugars that are attractive to vertebrate frugivores. However, there is a very low rate of seedling recruitment in natural conditions. One of the causes that can influence this low recruitment is an insufficient seed dispersal due to a low fruit removal even under different resource (fruits) availability. To test this prediction, we studied the production and consumption of fruits in two consecutive years in two vegetation types: nopaleras (dense Opuntia-dominated scrublands) and grasslands with sparse populations of O. rastrera. Plant cover, fruit production and removal, and frugivore identity were recorded within each vegetation type in four randomly selected circular plots (7854 m²). Fruit production per area was higher in nopaleras in both years whereas per cladode production did not differ between vegetation types but differed between years in response to variation in precipitation. Fruit consumption by vertebrates was high (100%) and independent of spatial and temporal fruit availability. The intensity of fruit removal was inversely related to resource availability: it was faster in the less dense community (grassland) and in the driest year. Contrary to other studies with similar cacti, fruit removal by small mammals was insignificant whereas main consumers were birds and large mammals. Vertebrate frugivory represents the only mechanism of primary dispersal of seeds as all fruits are removed in about one month. Despite the high quantity of viable seeds (more than one million per ha in nopaleras and a tenth of that in grasslands) that are dispersed by frugivores after the consumption of about 300 kg of fruit per ha in nopaleras and a tenth of that in grasslands, the rare establishment of seedlings (about one seedling per three million of seeds produced) reported in the literature indicates that the interaction between O. rastrera and the disperser guild is indeed very asymmetrical. We speculate that the harsh conditions for cactus establishment found in this ecosystem demand a high investment in disperser rewards (fleshy fruits) to allow a very modest rate of sexually-derived seedling establishment.     

Variability in post-dispersal seed predation in deciduous woodland: relative importance of location,seed species,burial and density

The considerable variability found in post-dispersal seed predation and the absence of consistent directional trends (e.g., with reference to seed size) has made it difficult to predict accurately the impact of seed predators on plant communities. We examined the variation attributable to location, seed density and seed burial on the removal of seeds of three tree species: Fraxinus excelsior, Taxus baccata and Ulmus glabra. Experiments were undertaken in five deciduous woodlands in Durham, U.K., and the relative importance of vertebrate and invertebrate seed predators was assessed using selective exclosures. In all five woodlands, seed removal was greatest from treatments to which vertebrates had access, and losses attributable to invertebrates were negligible. Rodents, in particular Apodemus sylvaticus (Muridae) and Clethrionomys glareolus (Cricetidae), were the principal seed consumers in these woodlands. Unidentified vertebrate seed predators (probably birds, rabbits and/or squirrels) appeared to be significant seed removers in three of the five woodlands. Rates of removal differed among the three tree species, increasing in the following order Fraxinus < Taxus < Ulmus but were not related to seed mass. The major effect influencing rates of seed removal was seed burial, which halved rates of seed removal overall. The effect of seed burial was a function of seed size. The larger seeds of Taxus realising little benefit from seed burial whereas encounter of the smaller Ulmus seeds fell by almost two-thirds. Removal was density-dependent for all three species. However, the relative increase in seed encounter through an increase in seed density was a negative function of seed size. This suggests that, for large seeds, the opportunity to escape seed predation via burial or reduced seed density is limited. These results reveal a number of parallels with other studies of post-dispersal predation and identify several generalities regarding the interaction between plants and post-dispersal seed predators. Comparison of the seed predation results with actual seedling distributions suggests that seed predators may influence regeneration of Ulmus glabra but probably play a lesser role in the dynamics of Taxus baccata and Fraxinus excelsior.     

Quercus rugosa seedling dynamics in relation to its re-introduction in a disturbed Mexican landscape

Abstract. In order to define the ‘regeneration niche’ and then promote the re-introduction of Quercus rugosa into a disturbed area we studied seed predation, germination, seedling survival and growth of this species at three different sites: the forest interior, the forest border and a disturbed site, along a disturbance gradient. Acorn removal on the ground was high at the sites, with higher removal rates from 25-seed clusters than from 5- and 1-seed clusters. More seeds were removed at the forest border than at the other two sites, although in all cases some seeds remained in the soil for periods long enough for them to germinate and produce seedlings. Seed germination and seedling establishment were more successful and similar in the forest interior and the forest border, and much less successful at the disturbed site, due to acorn desiccation. Seedling survival was strongly affected by site, with the highest survival at the forest border and the lowest survival at the disturbed site after a year. The subsequent dry season, which was particularly harsh, caused a drop in survival both at the forest border and the disturbed site. In the former, a closer analysis revealed that partially shaded microsites enhanced survival, while in the latter overall survival was very low, with approximately 5 % of the seedlings surviving, compared to 50 % final survival at the other sites. There was a positive correlation between seed size and seedling survival at the forest border. The three size variables measured (seedling height, basal diameter and crown area) did not increase noticeably during the 20-month study period at the forest interior, while growth still occurred at the forest border and the disturbed site. However, during the two dry seasons there were large drops in mean seedling height and crown area at the disturbed site, due to more frequent dieback, causing large variation in seedling size. These results show that extensive re-introduction of this species to the disturbed area will probably fail under present conditions, and that careful selection or duplication of microsites that mimic the partial shade of the forest border is a sound method for improving oak establishment at this site.