Dioecy has evolved independently several times during the evolution of flowering plants, but knowledge of the mechanisms involved is poor. Phoenix dactylifera is a dioecious species displaying strong dimorphism between...
Category - Growth & Development
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Genetic structuring in a large population of Arabidopsis
The perennial Arabidopsis lyrata is able to propagate both sexually and asexually, and this is expected to influence spatial genetic structure in the species. A fine-scale molecular study by Lundemo et al. (pp. 243–254)...
Spring temperatures affect season-long growth in grapevine
Vitis vinifera Plant growth is commonly understood to be determined by current temperature. Using a free-air cooling and heating system in the field, Keller and Tarara (pp. 131–141) show that much of the seasonal...
Spikelet seed position-dependent effects on life history
Eremopyrum distans The cold desert annual grass Eremopyrum distans exhibits position-dependent effects of seeds in the spikelet. Wang et al. (pp. 95–105) find that seeds from three positions in a spikelet differ in...
Phylogeny and diversification of Myrtaceae
Fleshy fruits have evolved independently several times amongst Myrtaceae. Using a family-wide phylogeny, Biffin et al. (pp. 79–93) find that the parallel evolution of fleshy fruit was accompanied by a positive shift in...
Regulation of tillering in sorghum: genotypic effects
Tillering is generally recognized as one of the most plastic traits affecting accumulation of biomass and ultimately grain yield in many field crops. Kim et al. (pp. 69–78) study five hybrids of Sorghum bicolor, derived...
Regulation of tillering in sorghum: environmental effects
Tillering has a significant effect on canopy development, resource capture, crop growth, and grain yield in cereal crops. Kim et al. conduct a series of field and laboratory experiments to determine the effects of...
False paracarpy in Seemannaralia (Araliaceae)
Seemannaralia (Araliaceae) Seemannaralia (Araliaceae) has bilocular ovaries whereas its fruits are unilocular, formed by two adjacent carpels. Oskolski et al. (pp. 29–36) find that the central cavity of these fruits...
