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Mediation of seed provisioning in the transmission of environmental maternal effects in Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Aiton)

Mediation of seed provisioning in the transmission of environmental maternal effects in Maritime... Although maternal environmental effects are increasingly recognized as an important source of phenotypic variation with relevant impacts in evolutionary processes, their relevance in long-lived plants such as pine trees is largely unknown. Here, we used a powerful sample size and a strong quantitative genetic approach to analyse the sources of variation of early seedling performance and to identify seed mass (SM)-dependent and -independent maternal environmental effects in Maritime pine. We measured SM of 8924 individual seeds collected from 10 genotypes clonally replicated in two environments of contrasting quality (favourable and stressful), and we measured seedling growth rate and biomass allocation to roots and shoots. SM was extremely variable (up to 14-fold) and strongly determined by the maternal environment and the genotype of the mother tree. The favourable maternal environment led to larger cones, larger seeds and reduced SM variability. The maternal environment also determined the offspring phenotype, with seedlings coming from the favourable environment being 35% larger and with greater root/shoot ratio. Transgenerational plasticity appears, thus, to be a relevant source of phenotypic variation in the early performance of this pine species. Seed provisioning explained most of the effect of the maternal environment on seedling total biomass. Environmental maternal effects on seedling biomass allocation were, however, determined through SM-independent mechanisms, suggesting that other epigenetic regulation channels may be involved. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Heredity Springer Journals

Mediation of seed provisioning in the transmission of environmental maternal effects in Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Aiton)

Zas, R; Cendán, C; Sampedro, L
Heredity , Volume 111 (3) – May 8, 2013
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References (45)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 by The Genetics Society
Subject
Biomedicine; Biomedicine, general; Human Genetics; Evolutionary Biology; Ecology; Cytogenetics; Plant Genetics and Genomics
ISSN
0018-067X
eISSN
1365-2540
DOI
10.1038/hdy.2013.44
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Although maternal environmental effects are increasingly recognized as an important source of phenotypic variation with relevant impacts in evolutionary processes, their relevance in long-lived plants such as pine trees is largely unknown. Here, we used a powerful sample size and a strong quantitative genetic approach to analyse the sources of variation of early seedling performance and to identify seed mass (SM)-dependent and -independent maternal environmental effects in Maritime pine. We measured SM of 8924 individual seeds collected from 10 genotypes clonally replicated in two environments of contrasting quality (favourable and stressful), and we measured seedling growth rate and biomass allocation to roots and shoots. SM was extremely variable (up to 14-fold) and strongly determined by the maternal environment and the genotype of the mother tree. The favourable maternal environment led to larger cones, larger seeds and reduced SM variability. The maternal environment also determined the offspring phenotype, with seedlings coming from the favourable environment being 35% larger and with greater root/shoot ratio. Transgenerational plasticity appears, thus, to be a relevant source of phenotypic variation in the early performance of this pine species. Seed provisioning explained most of the effect of the maternal environment on seedling total biomass. Environmental maternal effects on seedling biomass allocation were, however, determined through SM-independent mechanisms, suggesting that other epigenetic regulation channels may be involved.

Journal

Heredity – Springer Journals

Published: May 8, 2013

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