The presence of a below-ground neighbour alters within-plant seed size distribution in Phaseolus vulgaris

Bin J W Chen, Heinjo J During, Peter J Vermeulen, Niels Anten

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Considerable variation in seed size commonly exists within plants, and is believed to be favoured under natural selection. This study aims to examine the extent to which seed size distribution depends on the presence of competing neighbour plants.

METHODS: Phaseolus vulgaris plants rooting with or without a conspecific neighbour were grown in soil with high or low nutrient availability. Seeds were harvested at the end of the growth cycle, the total nitrogen and phosphorus invested in seed production were measured and within-plant seed size distribution was quantified using a set of statistical descriptors.

KEY RESULTS: Exposure to neighbours' roots induced significant changes in seed size distribution. Plants produced proportionally more large seeds and fewer small ones, as reflected by significant increases in minimal seed size, mean seed size, skewness and Lorenz asymmetry coefficient. These effects were different from, and in several cases opposite to, the responses when the soil nutrient level was reduced, and were significant after correction for the amount of resources invested in seed production.

CONCLUSIONS: Below-ground neighbour presence affects within-plant seed size distribution in P. vulgaris. This effect appears to be non-resource-mediated, i.e. to be independent of neighbour-induced effects on resource availability. It implies that, based on current environmental cues, plants can make an anticipatory adjustment of their investment strategy in offspring as an adaptation to the local environment in the future.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)937-943
Number of pages7
JournalAnnals of Botany
Volume114
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2014

Keywords

  • Anticipatory maternal effect
  • bet-hedging
  • game theory
  • neighbour detection
  • Phaseolus vulgaris
  • kidney bean
  • root competition
  • seed-setting
  • seed size variation
  • size inequality
  • skewness

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