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Maternal phenotypic effects due to soil nutrient levels and sink removal in Arabidopsis thaliana (Brassicaceae)
Author(s) -
Sills Gavin R.,
Nienhuis James
Publication year - 1995
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.1537-2197.1995.tb15669.x
Subject(s) - silique , biology , germination , nutrient , agronomy , brassicaceae , biomass (ecology) , ecotype , biomass partitioning , seedling , botany , zoology , horticulture , arabidopsis thaliana , ecology , biochemistry , gene , mutant
Three levels of soil nutrients and systematic removal of racemes and siliques, intended to reduce reproductive sink size, induced maternal effects in a genetically uniform, inbred accession of Arabidopsis thaliana ecotype Col‐0. Soil nutrient levels but not trimming treatments caused significant differences in maternal plant weight and number of seeds per silique. Trimming and increased soil nutrient level resulted in larger seeds. Germination rates were significantly affected only by the trimming main effect, while there were no significant effects on germination percentage. At 14 and 19 d harvest dates, soil nutrient level treatments resulted in significant differences in offspring aerial biomass, but this effect was nonsignificant at 24, 29, and 34 d harvest dates. The effect of trimming on offspring aerial biomass was significant at all harvest dates. No significant soil nutrient level × trimming interaction was observed on any harvest date. Phenotypic correlations among aerial biomass at each harvest date and seed weight of the six offspring classes were highly significant. Analyses of variance for germination and biomass data adjusted for seed weight showed no significant differences due to soil nutrient level, trimming, or their interaction, indicating that maternal effects influencing these variables were determined by seed weight. Relative growth rates were estimated from changes in biomass over time. The negative correlation between initial relative growth rate and rate of change of the relative growth rate was highly significant (R = ‐0.99; P < 0.01).