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FERTILIZATION DYNAMICS AND PARENTAL EFFECTS UPON FRUIT DEVELOPMENT IN RAPHANUS RAPHANISTRUM: CONSEQUENCES FOR SEED SIZE VARIATION
Author(s) -
Mazer Susan J.,
Snow Allison A.,
Stanton Maureen L.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.1002/j.1537-2197.1986.tb12068.x
Subject(s) - biology , ovule , pollen , human fertilization , maternal effect , endosperm , ovary , pollination , botany , raphanus , pollen tube , zygote , horticulture , agronomy , embryo , offspring , embryogenesis , genetics , pregnancy
Seed weight varies significantly within and among fruits of wild radish ( Raphanus raphanistrum ). To determine sources of this variation, we studied fertilization and seed development following controlled pollinations. Within fruits, central ovules were fertilized prior to distal ovules and attained greater seed size. Ninety‐seven percent of the variation in mean seed wt per fruit was explained by an analysis of variance incorporating parental effects, pollination date, and the number of seeds per fruit. We document strong maternal effects on the number of ovules per ovary, the number of fertilized ovules per ovary, the number of seeds per fruit, and mean individual seed wt per fruit. Across females, pollen donor had a slight but significant effect on seed wt; no paternal effects on fertilization rate, zygote number, or seed number per fruit were detected. Within females, with one exception, pollen donor had no significant effect on these components of seed development. Stronger maternal main effects may be due to donor x recipient interactions, cytoplasmic factors, the genetic inequity within triploid endosperm, and/or strict maternal control over resource allocation. The large maternal effects relative to paternal effects may limit the rate at which natural selection acts on paternal traits expressed prior to seed maturation.