No abstract

A full understanding of the ecology and evolution of plant tolerance to damage requires the measurement of a diversity of traits (including multiple fitness-correlates) and underlying mechanisms. Here, we address the compensatory response to defoliation in the perennial herb Ruellia nudiflora, measure biomass allocation patterns and relate them to compensation, and address multiple mechanisms and traits that determine compensatory ability. We used maternal full-sib lines of R. nudiflora and conducted a defoliation experiment in which half the plants of each line were subjected to removal of 40% of leaf area (the other half remained undamaged). Fitness-correlated traits, physiological traits, and leaf longevity were measured during a 2-month period after defoliation. Using another set of plants, we conducted a second defoliation experiment and measured the concentration of non-structural carbohydrates to test for root-to-shoot carbon mobilization as a compensatory mechanism. R. nudiflora showed full compensation in terms of fruit output, and compensatory ability was positively correlated with investment in root biomass in the absence of damage. In addition, defoliated plants produced shorterlived leaves and had a greater concentration of starch in roots, suggesting that reduced leaf longevity and accumulation of below-ground carbon reserves act as compensatory mechanisms. By measuring multiple fitness-correlates and induced traits, we provide a comprehensive evaluation of R. nudiflora compensatory responses to herbivory.

In our coconut laboratory micropropagation has been the subject of research for nearly three decades, as this plant species is highly recalcitrant for in vitro regeneration and so far only achieved through somatic embryogenesis as the sole path for coconut regeneration. Of all the explants tested, plumules have proved to be the most responsive and the process efficiency has been improved by indirect embryogenesis and thereafter secondary embryogenesis and callus multiplication, this strategy is currently applied in floral explants. Two different approaches have been used to find ways to have a more efficient protocol. The first one, a direct and practical method, included plant hormones and activated charcoal. On the other hand, the indirect approach consisted in basic studies on: morphohistological development, biochemical and physiological aspects such as uptake of exogenous auxin, levels of endogenous auxin; shoot apical meristem formation and maintenance (KNOX gene family); the occurrence and expression of genes related to the cell cycle control (Cyclin-Dependent Kinase), and somatic embryogenesis (Somatic Embryogenesis-Related Kinase); and the establishment of a transformation protocol. A better understanding of the somatic embryogenesis of coconut was achieved by these approaches. This way, in the short term there is no doubt that we will have mass propagation options based not only in plumule explants but also on rachillae, unfertilized ovary, and leaf explants.

The present study reports the effect of treatment of coconut embryogenic structure explants (derived from embryogenic callus) with the calcium ionophore A23187 (0, 1, 5, 10 µM) to promote somatic embryogenesis under in vitro conditions. The results showed no significant increase in the percentage of explants forming embryogenic callus, but with 1 µM ionophore there were significant increases in the formation of embryogenic structures per callus (2.8-fold), of somatic embryos per callus (1.5-fold) and also a greater absolute number (1.5-fold) of developing plantlets per callus. The ionophore treatment also promoted a change of pattern of the expression of the gene during embryogenic callus formation. It is proposed that if the use of ionophore A23187 treatment is coupled with an embryogenic callus multiplication process there could be a potentially greater increase in the efficiency of the formation of somatic embryos and plantlets of coconut.