Dissertation Research: Sex Allocation and Reproductive Success in a Perennial Hermaphrodite, Solanum carolinense

论文研究：多年生雌雄同体（Solanum carolinense）的性别分配和繁殖成功

• 批准号: 9411513
• 负责人: Thomas Meagher
• 金额: $ 0.9万
• 依托单位: Rutgers University New Brunswick
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1994
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1994-09-01 至 1996-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9411513&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Sex; Allocation; Reproductive

9411513 Meagher Ecological theories have predicted that the size or number of flowers on a plant should have a large effect upon the resulting reproductive success of that plant, particularly in terms of pollen spread, so that a plant with more or larger flowers will increase its reproductive success as a male parent. On the other hand, a plant has a limited resource pool which must be allocated not only to attracting pollinators, but also to filling fruit (a component of female reproductive success), growth, storage, and survival. This leads to a basic conflict within a plant. Synthesis of these two ideas--reproductive success gained through each gender and allocation-level-conflicts--has been hampered in hermaphroditic plants by problems associated with determining gender-specific fitness and assigning specific characters, such as corolla (petal) size, to either male or female success. This study will integrate allocation and fitness-component approaches to identify the precise role of different floral characters in reproductive success. The proposed research will determine resource allocation to gender functions in the perennial plant Solanum carolinense, and relate allocation patterns to realized fitness through both male and female functions. Experimental populations of S. carolinense have been planted, within which individual fruit and seed set over two growing seasons (female fitness) and male paternity (determined through genetic analysis) will be related to individual variation in the size and number of flowers. This study will therefore provide insight into the effect of resource allocation on the fitness gained through each gender in a hermaphroditic plant, and into the interrelationships of allocation and fitness between genders. In addition, controlled crosses will be performed between plants to determine the heritability of floral characters, so as to ascertain the potential for evolution of allocation regime. If flower size is environ mentally determined (for example, if larger flower parts are found on individuals growing in areas of slightly higher nutrient concentrations), any difference in reproductive ability due to allocation regime will not be passed on to offspring, and flower size and its relation to reproductive success is a random effect. In addition to contributions to basic understanding of plant reproductive success, this project will also have potential applied significance. The study species for this project, Solanum carolinense, was named one of the ten worst pasture weeds in 1980, due to the presence of toxic alkaloids, prickles, and thick persistent roots which aid in clonal spread of individual plants. It is therefore a commercially important species. Understanding allocation tradeoffs in this weed could contribute to control efforts currently practiced by farmers. In addition, the specific questions addressed concerning tradeoffs have direct applications to food plant breeding efforts, in that the results will help to explain cultivar variation in fruit production as a function of variation in floral allocation.

小行星9411513 生态学理论预测，植物上花的大小或数量对该植物的繁殖成功有很大的影响，特别是在花粉传播方面，因此具有更多或更大花的植物将增加其作为父本的繁殖成功。 另一方面，植物具有有限的资源库，不仅必须分配用于吸引传粉者，而且还用于充实果实（雌性繁殖成功的一个组成部分），生长，储存和生存。 这导致了工厂内部的基本冲突。 这两个想法的综合-通过每个性别和分配水平冲突获得的生殖成功-在雌雄同体植物中受到了与确定性别特异性适合度和分配特定特征相关的问题的阻碍，例如花冠（花瓣）大小，无论是男性还是女性成功。 本研究将整合分配和适合度成分的方法，以确定不同的花性状在繁殖成功的确切作用。 拟议的研究将确定资源分配的性别功能在多年生植物Solanum carolinense，并通过男性和女性的功能实现健身的分配模式。 S. carolinense已经被种植，其中在两个生长季节（雌性适合度）和雄性亲子关系（通过遗传分析确定）中的个体果实和种子将与花的大小和数量的个体变化相关。 因此，本研究将提供洞察力的影响，资源分配的健身获得通过每个性别在雌雄同体的植物，并到分配和性别之间的健身的相互关系。 此外，将在植物之间进行控制杂交，以确定花部性状的遗传力，从而确定分配制度演变的潜力。 如果花的大小是由环境决定的（例如，如果在营养浓度略高的地区生长的个体上发现较大的花部分），则由于分配制度导致的繁殖能力的任何差异都不会传递给后代，并且花的大小及其与繁殖成功的关系是随机效应。 除了对植物繁殖成功的基本认识做出贡献外，该项目还具有潜在的应用意义。 该项目的研究物种，Solanum carolinense，在1980年被命名为十大最糟糕的牧场杂草之一，由于存在有毒生物碱，刺和厚的宿存根，有助于个体植物的克隆传播。 因此，它是一个重要的商业物种。 了解这种杂草的分配权衡可能有助于农民目前的控制工作。 此外，有关权衡解决的具体问题有直接的应用程序的粮食植物育种工作，在该结果将有助于解释品种的变化，水果生产的花分配的变化的函数。