Persistent, non‐seed‐size maternal effects on life‐history traits in the progeny generation in squash, Cucurbita pepo

Abstract

Maternal-environmental effects on subsequent progeny life-history traits were evaluated in squash (Cucurbita pepo L.) in terms of the amount of time available for seed development, and the timing of fruit production. Progeny arising from three kinds of fruit were compared. Plants from which fruits were removed 3 d post-pollination throughout the growing season developed only ' late ' fruits (during 10-15 d) at the end of the growing season ; on control plants both ' early ' and ' late ' fruits developed (both types allowed to ripen fully). Seed from each type of fruit was weighed individually and categorized into three size classes, then germinated and raised to maturity, including regular harvesting of all fruits 3 d post-pollination. Maternal effects were evident for both vegetative and reproductive traits and carried over to later stages. In contrast, effects due simply to seed size disappeared by day 30 for leaf variables and day 60 for male flower production. Within a seed-size class, progeny arising from fruit of treated plants produced significantly more leaves, with greater size, and more male flowers than those arising from fruit of control plants, while the reverse was true for fruit number and fruit mass. This result is discussed in terms of possible gibberellic acid involvement. In control plants, progeny arising from seeds in the large, fully mature ' early ' fruits produced significantly more, and larger leaves by day 30 than did those from late fruits (suggesting differential provisioning in seeds during development). Male flower production had a highly significant positive correlation with vegetative mass and a significant negative correlation with fruit production.

Genetic architecture of susceptibility to herbivores in hybrid willows

“…Maternal effects are widely recognized as having important effects on offspring performance (reviewed by Roach & Wulff, 1987; Donohue & Schmitt, 1998, but see Weinig, 2000). Their effects may carry through to later stages of the offspring's life (El‐Keblawy & Lovett‐Doust, 1998) and even persist across generations (Wulff et al. , 1999, but see Andalo et al.…”

“…Maternal effects are widely recognized as having important effects on offspring performance (reviewed by Roach & Wulff, 1987;Donohue & Schmitt, 1998, but see Weinig, 2000). Their effects may carry through to later stages of the offspring's life (El-Keblawy & Lovett-Doust, 1998) and even persist across generations (Wulff et al, 1999, but see Andalo et al, 1999. However, significant environmental maternal effects are most commonly reported to affect early offspring traits, either because their effects on later traits are not examined (Huxman et al, 1998;Agrawal, 2002) or because their effect diminishes over the offspring's lifetime (Weiner et al, 1997;Steinger et al, 2000).…”

Inbreeding depression under intraspecific competition in a highly outcrossing population of Crepis sancta (Asteraceae): evidence for frequency‐dependent variation

“…Our pattern of inbreeding depression, based on naturally occurring densities of seedlings, can be interpreted in the light of the dominance and suppression hypothesis (Weiner, 1985), which postulates that a small initial advantage (for instance in seed mass) is enhanced when competition occurs. Indeed, many studies have demonstrated that slight differences in seed mass may translate into high fitness differences (El-Keblawy and Lovett-Doust, 1998). In the present study, the significant difference in achene mass between inbred and outbred types may be the basis for the patterns observed.…”

Regeneration niche of three epiphytic species of Gesneriaceae from Chilean rainforests: implications for the evolution of growth habits in Coronanthereae

“…We hypothesize that the acquisition of the physiological traits necessary to germinate and survive in the upper canopy environment, such as in the Chilean holoepiphyte S. repens , could be a consequence of maternal effects in an ancestral secondary hemiepiphytic liana, when subjected to increasing water stress in the upper canopy, especially during fertilization and seed development. As initial seedling growth depends on minerals, photosynthates and phytohormones provided by the maternal parent (Roach & Wulff, 1987; Sultan, 1996), differences in seed provisioning could affect subsequent development (Sultan, 1996) and progeny traits, such as seed size and seed germination requirements (El‐Keblawy & Lovett‐Doust, 1998; Johnsen et al ., 2005).…”