The role of domestication and maternal effects on seed traits of crop–wild sunflower hybrids (Helianthus annuus)

Abstract

Hybridisation between crops and their wild relatives may promote the evolution of weeds. Seed germination and dormancy are the earliest life-history traits and are highly influenced by the maternal parent. However, the ecological role of the maternal effect on seed traits in the evolution of crop-wild hybrids has received little attention. In this study, we test the relative importance of maternal and hybridisation effects on seed traits of the first generation of crop-wild sunflower hybrids (Helianthus annuus). Seed germination was tested in two wild populations with contrasting dormancy, two cultivated materials and their reciprocal crosses at four different times after harvest and three different temperatures. Seed germination at each of the four times, after ripening response and secondary dormancy were recorded along with four morphological traits. Additionally, the pericarp anatomy was analysed with light and scanning electron microscopy. We observed strong maternal effects on all seed traits. Seed germination, morphology and pericarp anatomy differed largely between the crop and wild seeds and these traits in the crop-wild hybrids resembled their female parent. Slight but significant hybridisation effects were observed in germination, mainly in seeds produced on wild plants. Crop hybridisation changed seed germination, the after ripening response and secondary dormancy in the crop direction. Morphological and anatomical traits associated with domestication strongly correlated with the observed differences in seed germination and dormancy in crop-wild sunflower hybrids. The large maternal effects along with the evolutionary divergence in seed traits were responsible for the large phenotypic differences observed in crop-wild hybrids with the same genetic composition. Wild-like seed traits of hybrids suggest that there are no barriers to crop gene introgression at the seed level whereas crop-like seed traits could be strongly selected against, conditioning the selection of traits expressed later in the life cycle and in the next generations. & Stewart, 2005; Bagavathiannan & Van Acker, 2008; Ellstrand et al., 2010). Here we define weeds as those populations that interfere with agriculture, competing Ann Appl Biol 171 (2017) 237-251 237 Maternal effects on seed traits F. Hernández et al.

Heterotic Effect of Different Cytoplasmic Combinations in Sunflower Hybrids Cultivated Under Diverse Irrigation Regimes

“…Sunflower is widely adopted and valued for its high-quality edible oil due to the presence of polyunsaturated fatty acids in conjunction with the right amount of linoleic acid and oleic acid, which are known to reduce the risk of cardiac problems [2,3]. Sunflower hybrids are preferred over varietal populations as hybrids offer several benefits in terms of growth, development, synchronous flowering, early maturity, higher seed setting, increased productivity, fewer harvest losses, and uniform seed moisture content for storage purposes [4]. Therefore, breeding efforts in sunflower are more focused on exploitation of heterosis, which has been established as a useful tool where genetically divergent parents result in highly productive sunflower hybrids with agronomically superior traits [5].…”

Maternal control of early life history traits affects overwinter survival and seedling phenotypes in sunflower (Helianthus annuusL.)

“…Previously, we reported strong maternal effects on seed traits in reciprocal crop-wild sunflower hybrids (Hernández et al 2017). We proposed that the large differences observed in the seed anatomy, morphology, and dormancy under controlled conditions between reciprocal crop-wild hybrids may have a direct impact on the timing of emergence in the field and probably indirect impacts on seedling size and performance.…”

“…For Experiments I and II, seeds were produced during the 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 growing seasons, respectively. The seeds were produced under controlled hand-pollination of heads from 10-15 plants covered with paper bags at the pre-flowering stage, following Presotto et al (2014) and Hernández et al (2017). At the flowering stage, heads from wild plants were pollinated with pollen from sibling plants (wild biotypes: BAR, DIA, and RCU) or pollen from cultivated plants (wild-crop hybrids: BAR x CROP, DIA x CROP, and RCU x CROP) 3-4 times per head.…”

“…Due to domestication and modern breeding, cultivated and wild populations often present large differences in ecologically relevant traits, such as seed size and dormancy, seedling size, and flowering time (Snow et al 1998;Campbell et al 2009;Hernández et al 2017). Moreover, some of these traits are key to survival without human intervention.…”

Como o manejo do nitrogênio da planta-mãe interfere na biologia de sementes de feijão carioca superprecoce?

“…., 2010; POSTMA;ÂGREN, 2015; PISKUREWICZ et al, 2016;HERNÁNDEZ et al, 2017; WULFF, 2017;BASKIN;BASKIN, 2019).Frente a essa lacuna, buscou-se integrar à tecnologia de sementes, a fisiologia de cultivo e a ecofisiologia de germinação por meio da seguinte hipótese: o manejo do nitrogênio na nutrição da planta-mãe modifica a biologia das sementes, ao alterar aspectos de composição química (mobilização de reservas) e, por conseguinte, germinação e desenvolvimento inicial de plantas. Neste contexto, utilizou-se como modelo a fertilização nitrogenada do feijoeiro-comum (variedade superprecoce BRS FC104).…”