Thermogenesis-triggered seed dispersal in dwarf mistletoe

deBruyn, Rolena A.J.; Paetkau, Mark; Ross, Kelly; Godfrey, David V.; Friedman, Cynthia Ross

doi:10.1038/ncomms7262

Cited by 24 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Arceuthobium (phylum: Tracheophyta, class: Magnoliopsida, order: Santalales, family: Santalaceae (sandalwoods)), commonly known as dwarf mistletoes, is a genus of plants that parasitizes members of Pinaceae and Cupressaceae in Africa, Asia, Europe, Central America, and North America. The ripe fruit of dwarf mistletoes consists of broadly fusiform-spheric seeds attached on short stems (pedicels; Fig 10A ) [ 63 , 64 ]. An abscission zone, representing the weakest region of the fruit, develops between the stems and the base of the fruit [ 65 ].…”

Section: Plantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shooting Mechanisms in Nature: A Systematic Review

et al. 2016

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BackgroundIn nature, shooting mechanisms are used for a variety of purposes, including prey capture, defense, and reproduction. This review offers insight into the working principles of shooting mechanisms in fungi, plants, and animals in the light of the specific functional demands that these mechanisms fulfill.MethodsWe systematically searched the literature using Scopus and Web of Knowledge to retrieve articles about solid projectiles that either are produced in the body of the organism or belong to the body and undergo a ballistic phase. The shooting mechanisms were categorized based on the energy management prior to and during shooting.ResultsShooting mechanisms were identified with projectile masses ranging from 1·10−9 mg in spores of the fungal phyla Ascomycota and Zygomycota to approximately 10,300 mg for the ballistic tongue of the toad Bufo alvarius. The energy for shooting is generated through osmosis in fungi, plants, and animals or muscle contraction in animals. Osmosis can be induced by water condensation on the system (in fungi), or water absorption in the system (reaching critical pressures up to 15.4 atmospheres; observed in fungi, plants, and animals), or water evaporation from the system (reaching up to −197 atmospheres; observed in plants and fungi). The generated energy is stored as elastic (potential) energy in cell walls in fungi and plants and in elastic structures in animals, with two exceptions: (1) in the momentum catapult of Basidiomycota the energy is stored in a stalk (hilum) by compression of the spore and droplets and (2) in Sphagnum energy is mainly stored in compressed air. Finally, the stored energy is transformed into kinetic energy of the projectile using a catapult mechanism delivering up to 4,137 J/kg in the osmotic shooting mechanism in cnidarians and 1,269 J/kg in the muscle-powered appendage strike of the mantis shrimp Odontodactylus scyllarus. The launch accelerations range from 6.6g in the frog Rana pipiens to 5,413,000g in cnidarians, the launch velocities from 0.1 m/s in the fungal phylum Basidiomycota to 237 m/s in the mulberry Morus alba, and the launch distances from a few thousands of a millimeter in Basidiomycota to 60 m in the rainforest tree Tetraberlinia moreliana. The mass-specific power outputs range from 0.28 W/kg in the water evaporation mechanism in Basidiomycota to 1.97·109 W/kg in cnidarians using water absorption as energy source.Discussion and conclusionsThe magnitude of accelerations involved in shooting is generally scale-dependent with the smaller the systems, discharging the microscale projectiles, generating the highest accelerations. The mass-specific power output is also scale dependent, with smaller mechanisms being able to release the energy for shooting faster than larger mechanisms, whereas the mass-specific work delivered by the shooting mechanism is mostly independent of the scale of the shooting mechanism. Higher mass-specific work-values are observed in osmosis-powered shooting mechanisms (≤ 4,137 J/kg) when compared to muscle-powered m...

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Section: Plantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shooting Mechanisms in Nature: A Systematic Review

et al. 2016

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“…Under the primary method of seed dispersal, hydrostatic pressure generated in the seed pod and thermogenesis-via the alternative oxidase pathway-is used to trigger ejection of the seed from the parent plant at velocities up to 27 m/s (Hinds et al 1963qtd. in Hawksworth and Wiens 1996, deBruyn et al 2015. This mechanism propels seeds up to 16 m (Hawksworth and Wiens 1996); seeds, however, usually only travel 2-4 m before encountering and affixing to a host as the result of a sticky mucilaginous seed coating (Hawksworth and Wiens 1996).…”

Section: Arceuthobium Americanummentioning

confidence: 99%

“…in Hawksworth and Wiens , deBruyn et al. ). This mechanism propels seeds up to 16 m (Hawksworth and Wiens ); seeds, however, usually only travel 2–4 m before encountering and affixing to a host as the result of a sticky mucilaginous seed coating (Hawksworth and Wiens ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insular biogeography and population genetics of dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium americanum) in the Central Rocky Mountains

2017

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Abstract. Lodgepole pine dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium americanum), an aggressive parasite of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta subsp. latifolia), is limited, in the Central Rocky Mountains, to montane host "islands." We sought to quantify the effect of the insularity and life history of A. americanum on its population genetic structure by considering three questions: (1) Do apparent limits to A. americanum pollen and seed dispersal affect gene flow at small spatial scales? (2) Are patterns of genetic diversity on montane "islands" and "mainlands" consistent with the predictions of island biogeographic theory? (3) What is the origin and genetic relationship of "island" and "mainland" populations of A. americanum within the Central Rocky Mountain study area? We used seven A. americanum microsatellite markers developed specifically for the project to genotype 241 individuals from six populations (four "island" and two "mainland" locations) at the western edge of the Central Rocky Mountains, Idaho, USA. All loci were unlinked and polymorphic with a range of 4-24 alleles per locus. To consider gene flow, we performed spatial analyses and compared F-statistics from our data to those from a wide range of species and functional groups. We tested the predictions of biogeographic theory by quantifying associations of genetic diversity with "island" area and isolation from "mainland" populations. To consider the genetic relationships of "island" and "mainland" regions, we applied agglomerative and Bayesian hierarchical classifications to datasets, and objectively identified the optimal numbers of clusters in these analyses. We found that F IS values in A. americanum were similar to those reported for dispersal-limited species with similar life-history characteristics, and F ST values were similar to those reported for plants with animal-facilitated seed dispersal. As predicted by biogeographic theory, island allelic richness was positively correlated with geographic size of the population and negatively correlated with distance from mainland populations. Average linkage (UPGMA) classifications and Bayesian cluster analyses both identified two groupings of island populations radiating from the mainland populations. Our results are likely to be of interest to foresters managing dwarf mistletoe infections, particularly in the Central Rocky Mountains, and to ecologists and geneticists working with insular population distributions.

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“…Mistletoe seedlings can only establish on thin, sun-exposed branches with only specific bird species, such as Dicaeum hirundinaceum (mistletoebirds), considered able to disperse seeds to these sites. That generalist birds, marsupials 17 , explosive seed release 18 and the wind 19 also effectively disperse mistletoe seeds weakens this argument. Myrmecochory (ant-dispersal) has been suggested as a mechanism for directed dispersal to ant nests (localised sites of high nutrients in nutrient-poor shrublands), but some evidence suggests otherwise.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Dispersal of semi-fleshy fruits to rock crevices by a rock-restricted rodent

White¹,

Midgley²

2017

S. Afr. J. Sci.

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ARTICLE INCLUDES: Supplementary material × Data set FUNDING:National Research Foundation (South Africa) Seed dispersal allows successive generations of plants to be mobile in space and time. Heeria argentea's unusual fruit and its ubiquity in extremely rocky habitats, suggests that this tree requires a specialist disperser. We therefore investigated the dispersal ecology of H. argentea and Hartogiella schinoides. We found M. namaquensis rapidly removed H. argentea and H. schinoides fruits, moving them short distances within and between rock outcrops, and consumed only the pericarps. Birds were observed consuming H. schinoides, but not H. argentea fruits, suggesting M. namaquensis is its sole, specialist disperser. Most H. argentea seeds (65%) with removed pericarps germinated successfully, while intact fruits did not. We show rock outcrops represent fire refugia, allowing H. argentea trees to grow to large sizes, with small stems and a co-occurring, wind-dispersed tree, Widdringtonia nodiflora found away from these sites. This rodent-tree mutualism is perhaps the clearest global example of directed dispersal and shows that these endemic trees are highly adapted for survival in the southwestern Cape habitat and are not tropical relicts. Significance:• The fruits of rock-restricted Cape trees are directly dispersed by rock rats to rock outcrops. This is the first description of rodent dispersal of fleshy fruits in South Africa.• This species-specific interaction allows for rapid germination of seeds and protection from frequent fires for adults. This rodent-tree mutualism is perhaps the clearest global example of directed seed dispersal.

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Thermogenesis-triggered seed dispersal in dwarf mistletoe

Cited by 24 publications

References 13 publications

Shooting Mechanisms in Nature: A Systematic Review

Shooting Mechanisms in Nature: A Systematic Review

Insular biogeography and population genetics of dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium americanum) in the Central Rocky Mountains

Dispersal of semi-fleshy fruits to rock crevices by a rock-restricted rodent

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