Related Articles

Background and Aims

Fruit set in indeterminate plant species largely depends on the balance between source and sink strength. Plants of these species show fluctuations in fruit set during the growing season. It was tested whether differences in fruit sink strength among the cultivars explained the differences in fruit-set patterns.

Methods

Capsicum was chosen as a model plant. Six cultivars with differences in fruit set, fruit size and plant growth were evaluated in a greenhouse experiment. Fruit-set patterns, generative and vegetative sink strength, source strength and the source : sink ratio at fruit set were determined. Sink strength was quantified as potential growth rate. Fruit set was related to total fruit sink strength and the source : sink ratio. The effect of differences observed in above-mentioned parameters on fruit-set patterns was examined using a simple simulation model.

Key Results

Sink strengths of individual fruits differed greatly among cultivars. Week-to-week fruit set in large-fruited cultivars fluctuated due to large fluctuations in total fruit sink strength, but in small-fruited cultivars, total fruit sink strength and fruit set were relatively constant. Large variations in week-to-week fruit set were correlated with a low fruit-set percentage. The source : sink threshold for fruit set was higher in large-fruited cultivars. Simulations showed that within the range of parameter values found in the experiment, fruit sink strength and source : sink threshold for fruit set had the largest impact on fruit set: an increase in these parameters decreased the average percentage fruit set and increased variation in weekly fruit set. Both were needed to explain the fruit-set patterns observed. The differences observed in the other parameters (e.g. source strength) had a lower effect on fruit set.

Conclusions

Both individual fruit sink strength and the source : sink threshold for fruit set were needed to explain the differences observed between fruit-set patterns of the six cultivars.

Background and aims

Many indeterminate plants can have wide fluctuations in the pattern of fruit-set and harvest. Fruit-set in these types of plants depends largely on the balance between source (assimilate supply) and sink strength (assimilate demand) within the plant. This study aims to evaluate the ability of functional–structural plant models to simulate different fruit-set patterns among Capsicum cultivars through source–sink relationships.

Methods

A greenhouse experiment of six Capsicum cultivars characterized with different fruit weight and fruit-set was conducted. Fruit-set patterns and potential fruit sink strength were determined through measurement. Source and sink strength of other organs were determined via the GREENLAB model, with a description of plant organ weight and dimensions according to plant topological structure established from the measured data as inputs. Parameter optimization was determined using a generalized least squares method for the entire growth cycle.

Key Results and Conclusions

Fruit sink strength differed among cultivars. Vegetative sink strength was generally lower for large-fruited cultivars than for small-fruited ones. The larger the size of the fruit, the larger variation there was in fruit-set and fruit yield. Large-fruited cultivars need a higher source–sink ratio for fruit-set, which means higher demand for assimilates. Temporal heterogeneity of fruit-set affected both number and yield of fruit. The simulation study showed that reducing heterogeneity of fruit-set was obtained by different approaches: for example, increasing source strength; decreasing vegetative sink strength, source–sink ratio for fruit-set and flower appearance rate; and harvesting individual fruits earlier before full ripeness. Simulation results showed that, when we increased source strength or decreased vegetative sink strength, fruit-set and fruit weight increased. However, no significant differences were found between large-fruited and small-fruited groups of cultivars regarding the effects of source and vegetative sink strength on fruit-set and fruit weight. When the source–sink ratio at fruit-set decreased, the number of fruit retained on the plant increased competition for assimilates with vegetative organs. Therefore, total plant and vegetative dry weights decreased, especially for large-fruited cultivars. Optimization study showed that temporal heterogeneity of fruit-set and ripening was predicted to be reduced when fruits were harvested earlier. Furthermore, there was a 20 % increase in the number of extra fruit set.

Background and Aims

The strong influence of environment and functioning on plant organogenesis has been well documented by botanists but is poorly reproduced in most functional–structural models. In this context, a model of interactions is proposed between plant organogenesis and plant functional mechanisms.

Methods

The GreenLab model derived from AMAP models was used. Organogenetic rules give the plant architecture, which defines an interconnected network of organs. The plant is considered as a collection of interacting ‘sinks’ that compete for the allocation of photosynthates coming from ‘sources’. A single variable characteristic of the balance between sources and sinks during plant growth controls different events in plant development, such as the number of branches or the fruit load.

Key Results

Variations in the environmental parameters related to light and density induce changes in plant morphogenesis. Architecture appears as the dynamic result of this balance, and plant plasticity expresses itself very simply at different levels: appearance of branches and reiteration, number of organs, fructification and adaptation of ecophysiological characteristics.

Conclusions

The modelling framework serves as a tool for theoretical botany to explore the emergence of specific morphological and architectural patterns and can help to understand plant phenotypic plasticity and its strategy in response to environmental changes.

Background and Aims

To model plasticity of plants in their environment, a new version of the functional–structural model GREENLAB has been developed with full interactions between architecture and functioning. Emergent properties of this model were revealed by simulations, in particular the automatic generation of rhythms in plant development. Such behaviour can be observed in natural phenomena such as the appearance of fruit (cucumber or capsicum plants, for example) or branch formation in trees.

Methods

In the model, a single variable, the source–sink ratio controls different events in plant architecture. In particular, the number of fruits and branch formation are determined as increasing functions of this ratio. For some sets of well-chosen parameters of the model, the dynamical evolution of the ratio during plant growth generates rhythms.

Key Results and Conclusions

Cyclic patterns in branch formation or fruit appearance emerge without being forced by the model. The model is based on the theory of discrete dynamical systems. The mathematical formalism helps us to explain rhythm generation and to control the behaviour of the system. Rhythms can appear during both the exponential and stabilized phases of growth, but the causes are different as shown by an analytical study of the system. Simulated plant behaviours are very close to those observed on real plants. With a small number of parameters, the model gives very interesting results from a qualitative point of view. It will soon be subjected to experimental data to estimate the model parameters.

Background and Aims

This study aimed to characterize the interaction between architecture and source–sink relationships in winter oilseed rape (WOSR): do the costs of ramification compromise the source–sink ratio during seed filling? The GreenLab model is a good candidate to address this question because it has been already used to describe interactions between source–sink relationships and architecture for other species. However, its adaptation to WOSR is a challenge because of the complexity of its developmental scheme, especially during the reproductive phase.

Methods

Equations were added in GreenLab to compute expansion delays for ramification, flowering of each axis and photosynthesis of pods including the energetic cost of oil synthesis. Experimental field data were used to estimate morphological parameters while source–sink parameters of the model were estimated by adjustment of model outputs to the data. Ecophysiological outputs were used to assess the sources/sink relationships during the whole growth cycle.

Key Results

First results indicated that, at the plant scale, the model correctly simulates the dynamics of organ growth. However, at the organ scale, errors were observed that could be explained either by secondary growth that was not incorporated or by uncertainties in morphological parameters (durations of expansion and life). Ecophysiological outputs highlighted the dramatic negative impact of ramification on the source–sink ratio, as well as the decrease in this ratio during seed filling despite pod envelope photosynthesis that allowed significant biomass production to be maintained.

Conclusions

This work is a promising first step in the construction of a structure–function model for a plant as complex as WOSR. Once tested for other environments and/or genotypes, the model can be used for studies on WOSR architectural plasticity.

Background and Aims

In traditional crop growth models assimilate production and partitioning are described with empirical equations. In the GREENLAB functional–structural model, however, allocation of carbon to different kinds of organs depends on the number and relative sink strengths of growing organs present in the crop architecture. The aim of this study is to generate sink functions of wheat (Triticum aestivum) organs by calibrating the GREENLAB model using a dedicated data set, consisting of time series on the mass of individual organs (the ‘target data’).

Methods

An experiment was conducted on spring wheat (Triticum aestivum, ‘Minaret’), in a growth chamber from, 2004 to, 2005. Four harvests were made of six plants each to determine the size and mass of individual organs, including the root system, leaf blades, sheaths, internodes and ears of the main stem and different tillers. Leaf status (appearance, expansion, maturity and death) of these 24 plants was recorded. With the structures and mass of organs of four individual sample plants, the GREENLAB model was calibrated using a non-linear least-square-root fitting method, the aim of which was to minimize the difference in mass of the organs between measured data and model output, and to provide the parameter values of the model (the sink strengths of organs of each type, age and tiller order, and two empirical parameters linked to biomass production).

Key Results and Conclusions

The masses of all measured organs from one plant from each harvest were fitted simultaneously. With estimated parameters for sink and source functions, the model predicted the mass and size of individual organs at each position of the wheat structure in a mechanistic way. In addition, there was close agreement between experimentally observed and simulated values of leaf area index.

Background and Aims

Plant growth models able to simulate phenotypic plasticity are increasingly required because (1) they should enable better predictions of the observed variations in crop production, yield and quality, and (2) their parameters are expected to have a more robust genetic basis, with possible implications for selection of quantitative traits such as growth- and allocation-related processes. The structure–function plant model, GREENLAB, simulates resource-dependent plasticity of plant architecture. Evidence for its generality has been previously reported, but always for plants grown in a limited range of environments. This paper aims to test the model concept to its limits by using plant spacing as a means to generate a gradient of competition for light, and by using a new crop species, tomato, known to exhibit a strong photomorphogenetic response.

Methods

A greenhouse experiment was carried out with three homogeneous planting densities (plant spacing = 0·3, 0·6 and 1 m). Detailed records of plant development, plant architecture and organ growth were made throughout the growing period. Model calibration was performed for each situation using a statistical optimization procedure (multi-fitting).

Key Results and Conclusions

Obvious limitations of the present version of the model appeared to account fully for the plant plasticity induced by inter-plant competition for light. A lack of stability was identified for some model parameters at very high planting density. In particular, those parameters characterizing organ sink strengths and governing light interception proved to be environment-dependent. Remarkably, however, responses of the parameter values concerned were consistent with actual growth measurements and with previously reported results. Furthermore, modifications of total biomass production and of allocation patterns induced by the planting-density treatments were accurately simulated using the sets of optimized parameters. These results demonstrate that the overall model structure is potentially able to reproduce the observed plant plasticity and suggest that sound biologically based adaptations could overcome the present model limitations. Potential options for model improvement are proposed, and the possibility of using the kernel algorithm currently available as a fitting tool to build up more sophisticated model versions is advocated.

Background and Aims

Plant population density (PPD) influences plant growth greatly. Functional–structural plant models such as GREENLAB can be used to simulate plant development and growth and PPD effects on plant functioning and architectural behaviour can be investigated. This study aims to evaluate the ability of GREENLAB to predict maize growth and development at different PPDs.

Methods

Two field experiments were conducted on irrigated fields in the North China Plain with a block design of four replications. Each experiment included three PPDs: 2·8, 5·6 and 11·1 plants m−2. Detailed observations were made on the dimensions and fresh biomass of above-ground plant organs for each phytomer throughout the seasons. Growth stage-specific target files (a description of plant organ weight and dimension according to plant topological structure) were established from the measured data required for GREENLAB parameterization. Parameter optimization was conducted using a generalized least square method for the entire growth cycles for all PPDs and years. Data from in situ plant digitization were used to establish geometrical symbol files for organs that were then applied to translate model output directly into 3-D representation for each time step of the model execution.

Key Results

The analysis indicated that the parameter values of organ sink variation function, and the values of most of the relative sink strength parameters varied little among years and PPDs, but the biomass production parameter, computed plant projection surface and internode relative sink strength varied with PPD. Simulations of maize plant growth based on the fitted parameters were reasonably good as indicated by the linearity and slopes similar to unity for the comparison of simulated and observed values. Based on the parameter values fitted from different PPDs, shoot (including vegetative and reproductive parts of the plant) and cob fresh biomass for other PPDs were simulated. Three-dimensional representation of individual plant and plant stand from the model output with two contrasting PPDs were presented with which the PPD effect on plant growth can be easily recognized.

Conclusions

This study showed that GREENLAB model has the ability to capture plant plasticity induced by PPD. The relatively stable parameter values strengthened the hypothesis that one set of equations can govern dynamic organ growth. With further validation, this model can be used for agronomic applications such as yield optimization.

Background and Aims

Despite its simple architecture and small phenotypic plasticity, oil palm has complex phenology and source–sink interactions. Phytomers appear in regular succession but their development takes years, involving long lag periods between environmental influences and their effects on sinks. Plant adjustments to resulting source–sink imbalances are poorly understood. This study investigated oil palm adjustments to imbalances caused by severe fruit pruning.

Methods

An experiment with two treatments (control and complete fruit pruning) during 22 months in 2006–2008) and six replications per treatment was conducted in Indonesia. Phenology, growth of above-ground vegetative and reproductive organs, leaf morphology, inflorescence sex differentiation, dynamics of non-structural carbohydrate reserves and light-saturated net photosynthesis (Amax) were monitored.

Key Results

Artificial sink limitation by complete fruit pruning accelerated development rate, resulting in higher phytomer, leaf and inflorescence numbers. Leaf size and morphology remained unchanged. Complete fruit pruning also suppressed the abortion of male inflorescences, estimated to be triggered at about 16 months before bunch maturity. The number of female inflorescences increased after an estimated lag of 24–26 months, corresponding to time from sex differentiation to bunch maturity. The most important adjustment process was increased assimilate storage in the stem, attaining nearly 50 % of dry weight in the stem top, mainly as starch, whereas glucose, which in controls was the most abundant non-structural carbohydrate stored in oil palm, decreased.

Conclusions

The development rate of oil palm is in part controlled by source–sink relationships. Although increased rate of development and proportion of female inflorescences constituted observed adjustments to sink limitation, the low plasticity of plant architecture (constant leaf size, absence of branching) limited compensatory growth. Non-structural carbohydrate storage was thus the main adjustment process.

Localization and characterization of fruit set in winter tomato crops was investigated to determine the main internal and external controlling factors and to establish a quantitative relationship between fruit set and competition for assimilates. Individual fruit growth and development was assessed on a beef tomato cultivar during the reproductive period (first nine inflorescences). A non-destructive photograph technique was used to measure fruit growth from very early stages of their development and then calliper measurements were made on big fruits. From these measurements we determined the precise developmental stage at which fruit growth stopped. Fruit potential growth, which is defined as the growth achieved in non-limiting conditions for assimilate supply, was also assessed by this method on plants thinned to one flower per inflorescence. The latter was used to calculate the ratio between actual and potential growth, which was found to be a good index of the competition for assimilates.

Time lags of fruit set were observed mainly on distal organs. When more than three flowers were left on each inflorescence, distal organs developed at the same time as proximal organs of the following inflorescence. Consequently they were submitted to a double competition within one inflorescence and among inflorescences. It was shown that, what is commonly named ‘fruit set failure’, is not an irreversible death of the organ and that a small fruit could resume growth after a delay of several weeks as soon as the first fruits ripened and thus ceased to compete for assimilates. In that case proximal fruits resumed growth before distal ones. The delayed fruits contained only few seeds but a germination test confirmed that fertilization took place before fruit set failed.

Competition for assimilates was calculated during plant development by the ratio between actual and potential fruit growth. Potential growth of proximal fruits was strongly dependent on the position of the inflorescence on the stem, whereas potential growth of distal fruits was lower than or equal to that of proximal fruits of the same inflorescence and it was independent on the inflorescence position. We took into account both inflorescence and fruit positions to establish a quantitative relationship between fruit set of individual inflorescences and the ratio between actual and potential fruit growth.

Background and Aims

Resource allocation to flowers, fruits and seeds can vary greatly within an inflorescence. For example, distal fruits are often smaller and produce fewer and smaller fruits and seeds than more basal fruits. To assess the causes and functional significance of intra-inflorescence variation, pollen and resources were manipulated to test whether such patterns could be altered within racemes of Stylidum armeria, a perennial Australian herb.

Methods

Pollen and resource levels were manipulated over two flowering seasons. How the number of ovules, fertilized ovules and seeds, the probability of fruit set, and the biomass of floral and fruiting structures varied with their position on the raceme were analysed.

Key Results

Most plants showed a decline in ovule and seed number toward the distal positions on the raceme, but plants differed in their pattern of intra-inflorescence allocation: racemes with greater investment in basal fruits displayed a stronger trade-off with distal investment than did racemes that made smaller initial investments. This trade-off was (a) much stronger for ovule number than for seed number, (b) ameliorated but not erased by resource addition, and (c) exacerbated by resource reduction. There was large and seemingly erratic variation across fruit positions in ovule fertilization and seed set following both natural and supplemental pollination.

Conclusions

In S. armeria, allocation to reproductive traits within the inflorescence is influenced by dynamic trade-offs in resource allocation between early and late fruits, and may also be subject to inherent architectural effects. Large, unpredictable variation among fruits in fertilization success and seed set may influence the evolution of inflorescence size, ovule number and floral dimorphism.

Seasonal and regional variations in kiwifruit storage quality imply a weather effect. This is perhaps mediated via fruit transpiration and fruit mineral nutrition. Concurrent measurements of fruit transpiration and weather are modelled to predict cumulative fruit transpiration throughout the season.

Background and aims

In most fruit crops, storage quality varies greatly between regions and seasons, causing significant commercial loss. Understanding the sources of this variability will contribute to the knowledge of fruit developmental physiology and may also benefit commercial fruit production via altered managements that reduce it or forecasts that predict it. A causal-chain relationship is proposed to help elucidate the sources of variability in fruit storage quality: the weather →(i)→ fruit transpiration →(ii)→ fruit calcium →(iii)→ fruit storage quality. This paper explores the first link of this hypothesis, →(i)→, for Hayward kiwifruit using field measurements of fruit transpiration rate and concurrent meteorological recordings. The aims are to identify the key environmental variables driving fruit transpiration and develop a predictive fruit transpiration model.

Methodology

Fruit transpiration was determined hourly over several 24-h periods by recording weight loss of detached fruit, on Days 23, 35, 49, 65, 94 and 140 after full bloom. Meteorological records were made every 15 min throughout the season at an adjacent regional weather station. A model of fruit transpiration was developed in which the usual meteorological variables (radiation, temperature, windspeed and relative humidity) were incorporated in a Fick's Law transpiration flux equation.

Principal results

Fruit transpiration rate (i.e. the molar flux density, mmol cm−2 h−1) varied diurnally and decreased during the season. The dominant fruit variable governing transpiration rate was skin conductance and the dominant environmental variables were relative humidity and temperature. Radiation and windspeed were not significantly influential.

Conclusions

The model provides a good fit to the fruit transpiration rate measurements regardless of the time of day/night or the stage of fruit development. The model allows reasonably accurate and continuous predictions of fruit transpiration rate throughout fruit development based on standard meteorological recordings. It also allows estimates of cumulative fruit transpiration throughout the season.

Background and Aims

It is increasingly accepted that crop models, if they are to simulate genotype-specific behaviour accurately, should simulate the morphogenetic process generating plant architecture. A functional–structural plant model, GREENLAB, was previously presented and validated for maize. The model is based on a recursive mathematical process, with parameters whose values cannot be measured directly and need to be optimized statistically. This study aims at evaluating the stability of GREENLAB parameters in response to three types of phenotype variability: (1) among individuals from a common population; (2) among populations subjected to different environments (seasons); and (3) among different development stages of the same plants.

Methods

Five field experiments were conducted in the course of 4 years on irrigated fields near Beijing, China. Detailed observations were conducted throughout the seasons on the dimensions and fresh biomass of all above-ground plant organs for each metamer. Growth stage-specific target files were assembled from the data for GREENLAB parameter optimization. Optimization was conducted for specific developmental stages or the entire growth cycle, for individual plants (replicates), and for different seasons. Parameter stability was evaluated by comparing their CV with that of phenotype observation for the different sources of variability. A reduced data set was developed for easier model parameterization using one season, and validated for the four other seasons.

Key Results and Conclusions

The analysis of parameter stability among plants sharing the same environment and among populations grown in different environments indicated that the model explains some of the inter-seasonal variability of phenotype (parameters varied less than the phenotype itself), but not inter-plant variability (parameter and phenotype variability were similar). Parameter variability among developmental stages was small, indicating that parameter values were largely development-stage independent. The authors suggest that the high level of parameter stability observed in GREENLAB can be used to conduct comparisons among genotypes and, ultimately, genetic analyses.

Mongolian Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica) is one of the principal tree species in the network of Three-North Shelterbelt for windbreak and sand stabilisation in China. The functions of shelterbelts are highly correlated with the architecture and eco-physiological processes of individual tree. Thus, model-assisted analysis of canopy architecture and function dynamic in Mongolian Scots pine is of value for better understanding its role and behaviour within shelterbelt ecosystems in these arid and semiarid regions. We present here a single-tree functional and structural model, derived from the GreenLab model, which is adapted for young Mongolian Scots pines by incorporation of plant biomass production, allocation, allometric rules and soil water dynamics. The model is calibrated and validated based on experimental measurements taken on Mongolian Scots pines in 2007 and 2006 under local meteorological conditions. Measurements include plant biomass, topology and geometry, as well as soil attributes and standard meteorological data. After calibration, the model allows reconstruction of three-dimensional (3D) canopy architecture and biomass dynamics for trees from one- to six-year-old at the same site using meteorological data for the six years from 2001 to 2006. Sensitivity analysis indicates that rainfall variation has more influence on biomass increment than on architecture, and the internode and needle compartments and the aboveground biomass respond linearly to increases in precipitation. Sensitivity analysis also shows that the balance between internode and needle growth varies only slightly within the range of precipitations considered here. The model is expected to be used to investigate the growth of Mongolian Scots pines in other regions with different soils and climates.

Background and Aims

The dynamical system of plant growth GREENLAB was originally developed for individual plants, without explicitly taking into account interplant competition for light. Inspired by the competition models developed in the context of forest science for mono-specific stands, we propose to adapt the method of crown projection onto the x–y plane to GREENLAB, in order to study the effects of density on resource acquisition and on architectural development.

Methods

The empirical production equation of GREENLAB is extrapolated to stands by computing the exposed photosynthetic foliage area of each plant. The computation is based on the combination of Poisson models of leaf distribution for all the neighbouring plants whose crown projection surfaces overlap. To study the effects of density on architectural development, we link the proposed competition model to the model of interaction between functional growth and structural development introduced by Mathieu (2006, PhD Thesis, Ecole Centrale de Paris, France).

Key Results and Conclusions

The model is applied to mono-specific field crops and forest stands. For high-density crops at full cover, the model is shown to be equivalent to the classical equation of field crop production ( Howell and Musick, 1985, in Les besoins en eau des cultures; Paris: INRA Editions). However, our method is more accurate at the early stages of growth (before cover) or in the case of intermediate densities. It may potentially account for local effects, such as uneven spacing, variation in the time of plant emergence or variation in seed biomass. The application of the model to trees illustrates the expression of plant plasticity in response to competition for light. Density strongly impacts on tree architectural development through interactions with the source–sink balances during growth. The effects of density on tree height and radial growth that are commonly observed in real stands appear as emerging properties of the model.

Background and Aims

Models based on the consideration of plant development as the result of source–sink relationships between organs suffer from an inherent lack of quantification of the effect of trophic competition on organ growth processes. The ‘common assimilate pool theory’ underlying many such models is highly debatable.

Methods

Six experiments were carried out in a greenhouse and outdoors with two grapevine cultivars and with 12 management systems, resulting in different types of plant architecture. Ten variables were used to quantify the impact of variations in assimilate supply and topological distances between sources and sinks on organogenesis, morphogenesis and biomass growth.

Key Results

A hierarchy of the responses of these processes to variations in assimilate supply was identified. Organ size seemed to be independent of assimilate supply, whereas both organogenesis and biomass growth were affected by variations in assimilate supply. Lower levels of organ biomass growth in response to the depletion of assimilate supplies seemed to be the principal mechanism underlying the plasticity of plant development in different environments. Defoliation or axis ablation resulted in changes in the relationship between growth processes and assimilate supply, highlighting the influence of non-trophic determinants. The findings cast doubt on the relevance of ‘the common assimilate pool theory’ for modelling the development of grapevine.

Conclusions

The results of this study suggest new formalisms for increasing the ability of models to take plant plasticity into account. The combination of an ecophysiological model for morphogenesis taking environmental signals into account and a biomass driven model for organogenesis and biomass allocation taking the topological distances between the sources and the sinks into account appears to be a promising approach. Moreover, in order to simulate the impact of agronomic practices, it will be necessary to take into account the non-trophic determinants of plant development such as hormonal signaletics.

Background

The DefH9-iaaM gene fusion which is expressed specifically in placenta/ovules and promotes auxin-synthesis confers parthenocarpic fruit development to eggplant, tomato and tobacco. Transgenic DefH9-iaaM eggplants and tomatoes show increased fruit production due mainly to an improved fruit set. However, the weight of the fruits is also frequently increased.

Results

DefH9-iaaM strawberry and raspberry plants grown under standard cultivation conditions show a significant increase in fruit number and size and fruit yield. In all three Rosaceae species tested, Fragaria vesca, Fragaria x ananassa and Rubus idaeus, DefH9-iaaM plants have an increased number of flowers per inflorescence and an increased number of inflorescences per plant. This results in an increased number of fruits per plant. Moreover, the weight and size of transgenic fruits was also increased. The increase in fruit yield was approximately 180% in cultivated strawberry, 140% in wild strawberry, and 100% in raspberry. The DefH9-iaaM gene is expressed in the flower buds of all three species. The total IAA (auxin) content of young flower buds of strawberry and raspberry expressing the DefH9-iaaM gene is increased in comparison to untransformed flower buds. The DefH9-iaaM gene promotes parthenocarpy in emasculated flowers of both strawberry and raspberry.

Conclusions

The DefH9-iaaM gene is expressed and biologically active in Rosaceae. The DefH9-iaaM gene can be used, under cultivation conditions that allow pollination and fertilization, to increase fruit productivity significantly in Rosaceae species. The finding that the DefH9-iaaM auxin-synthesizing gene increases the number of inflorescences per plant and the number of flowers per inflorescence indicates that auxin plays a role in plant fecundity in these three perennial Rosaceae species.

Background and Aims

Photosynthetic plasticity in response to a range of environmental factors that include [CO2], water availability, light intensity and temperature, is ubiquitous among plants with crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM). The present study examined how seasonal changes in light availability, as experienced by greenhouse CAM crops in northern latitude regions, influence diel carboxylation patterns and impact on carbon gain and seasonal accumulation of biomass.

Methods

In the CAM bromeliad Aechmea ‘Maya’ integrated measurements of leaf gas exchange, diel metabolite dynamics (e.g. malate, soluble sugars and starch) and biomass accumulation were made four times a year, i.e. in winter, spring, summer and autumn.

Key Results

During the brighter seasons (spring and summer) daytime Phases II and IV were dominated by C4 carboxylation, whilst the higher diurnal uptake in the autumn and winter was characterized by equal contributions of both Rubisco and PEPC. As a consequence, net CO2 uptake showed a significant depression at the end of the day in the darker months when supplementary illumination was turned off. Remarkable seasonal consistency was found in the amount of storage reserves available for nocturnal carboxylation, a consequence of predominantly daytime export of carbohydrate in spring and summer whilst nocturnal export was the major sink for carbohydrate in autumn and winter.

Conclusions

Throughout the different seasons Aechmea ‘Maya’ showed considerable plasticity in the timing and magnitude of C3 and C4 carboxylation processes over the diel cycle. Under low PPFD (i.e. winter and autumn) it appears that there was a constraint on the amount of carbohydrate exported during the day in order to maintain a consistent pool of transient carbohydrate reserves. This gave remarkable seasonal consistency in the amount of storage reserves available at night, thereby optimizing biomass gain throughout the year. The data have important practical consequences for horticultural productivity of CAM plants and suggest a scenario for reconciling carbohydrate partitioning between competing sinks of nocturnal acidification and export for growth.

Background

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L) is an important crop worldwide that provides fiber for the textile industry. Cotton is a perennial plant that stores starch in stems and roots to provide carbohydrates for growth in subsequent seasons. Domesticated cotton makes these reserves available to developing seeds which impacts seed yield. The goals of these analyses were to identify genes and physiological pathways that establish cotton stems and roots as physiological sinks and investigate the role these pathways play in cotton development during seed set.

Results

Analysis of field-grown cotton plants indicated that starch levels peaked about the time of first anthesis and then declined similar to reports in greenhouse-grown cotton plants. Starch accumulated along the length of the stem and the shape and size of the starch grains from stems were easily distinguished from transient starch. Microarray analyses compared gene expression in tissues containing low levels of starch with tissues rapidly accumulating starch. Statistical analysis of differentially expressed genes indicated increased expression among genes associated with starch synthesis, starch degradation, hexose metabolism, raffinose synthesis and trehalose synthesis. The anticipated changes in these sugars were largely confirmed by measuring soluble sugars in selected tissues.

Conclusion

In domesticated cotton starch stored prior to flowering was available to support seed production. Starch accumulation observed in young field-grown plants was not observed in greenhouse grown plants. A suite of genes associated with starch biosynthesis was identified. The pathway for starch utilization after flowering was associated with an increase in expression of a glucan water dikinase gene as has been implicated in utilization of transient starch. Changes in raffinose levels and levels of expression of genes controlling trehalose and raffinose biosynthesis were also observed in vegetative cotton tissues as plants age.

The effects of different-colored polyethylene mulches on the quantity and spectra of reflected light, earliness of fruit set, fruit yield and quality, and root-knot disease were studied in field-grown, staked tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum). White mulch reflected more photosynthetic light and a lower far-red-to-red ratio than red mulch, whereas black mulch reflected less than 5 percent of any color. Soil temperatures and fruit yields were recorded for tomato plants inoculated with Meloidogyne incognita race 3 at initial populations of 0, 1,000, 10,000, 50,000, or 100,000 eggs/plant and grown over black, white, or red plastic mulch in both spring and fall. Soil temperatures were lower under white mulch than under red or black mulch. Tomato yields declined as inoculum level increased. Plants grown over red mulch in the spring and inoculated with 50,000 eggs of M. incognita had greater early marketable yields than similarly inoculated plants grown over black or white mulch. Tomato plants inoculated with 100,000 eggs and grown over white mulch or red mulch in the spring had greater total yields per plot than similar plants grown over black mulch (7.39 kg and 7.71 kg vs. 3.65 kg, respectively).

Background and Aims

Secondary growth is a main physiological sink. However, the hierarchy between the processes which compete with secondary growth is still a matter of debate, especially on fruit trees where fruit weight dramatically increases with time. It was hypothesized that tree architecture, here mediated by branch age, is likely to have a major effect on the dynamics of secondary growth within a growing season.

Methods

Three variables were monitored on 6-year-old ‘Golden Delicious’ apple trees from flowering time to harvest: primary shoot growth, fruit volume, and cross-section area of branch portions of consecutive ages. Analyses were done through an ANOVA-type analysis in a linear mixed model framework.

Key Results

Secondary growth exhibited three consecutive phases characterized by unequal relative area increment over the season. The age of the branch had the strongest effect, with the highest and lowest relative area increment for the current-year shoots and the trunk, respectively. The growth phase had a lower effect, with a shift of secondary growth through the season from leafy shoots towards older branch portions. Eventually, fruit load had an effect on secondary growth mainly after primary growth had ceased.

Conclusions

The results support the idea that relationships between production of photosynthates and allocation depend on both primary growth and branch architectural position. Fruit load mainly interacted with secondary growth later in the season, especially on old branch portions.

Background

Following on from recent advances in plant AsA biosynthesis there is increasing interest in elucidating the factors contributing to the L-ascorbic acid (AsA) content of edible crops. One main objective is to establish whether in sink organs such as fruits and tubers, AsA is synthesised in situ from imported photoassimilates or synthesised in source tissues and translocated via the phloem. In the current work we test the hypothesis that long-distance transport is involved in AsA accumulation within the potato tuber, the most significant source of AsA in the European diet.

Results

Using the EDTA exudation technique we confirm the presence of AsA in the phloem of potato plants and demonstrate a correlation between changes in the AsA content of source leaves and that of phloem exudates. Comparison of carboxyflourescein and AgNO3 staining is suggestive of symplastic unloading of AsA in developing tubers. This hypothesis was further supported by the changes in AsA distribution during tuber development which closely resembled those of imported photoassimilates. Manipulation of leaf AsA content by supply of precursors to source leaves resulted in increased AsA content of developing tubers.

Conclusion

Our data provide strong support to the hypothesis that long-distance transport of AsA occurs in potato. We also show that phloem AsA content and AsA accumulation in sink organs can be directly increased via manipulation of AsA content in the foliage. We are now attempting to establish the quantitative contribution of imported AsA to overall AsA accumulation in developing potato tubers via transgenic approaches.

The PIN-FORMED (PIN) auxin efflux transport protein family has been well characterized in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, where these proteins are crucial for auxin regulation of various aspects of plant development. Recent evidence indicates that PIN proteins may play a role in fruit set and early fruit development in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), but functional analyses of PIN-silenced plants failed to corroborate this hypothesis. Here it is demonstrated that silencing specifically the tomato SlPIN4 gene, which is predominantly expressed in tomato flower bud and young developing fruit, leads to parthenocarpic fruits due to precocious fruit development before fertilization. This phenotype was associated with only slight modifications of auxin homeostasis at early stages of flower bud development and with minor alterations of ARF and Aux/IAA gene expression. However, microarray transcriptome analysis and large-scale quantitative RT-PCR profiling of transcription factors in developing flower bud and fruit highlighted differentially expressed regulatory genes, which are potential targets for auxin control of fruit set and development in tomato. In conclusion, this work provides clear evidence that the tomato PIN protein SlPIN4 plays a major role in auxin regulation of tomato fruit set, possibly by preventing precocious fruit development in the absence of pollination, and further gives new insights into the target genes involved in fruit set.

Background and Aims

Rubus chamaemorus (cloudberry) is a herbaceous clonal peatland plant that produces an extensive underground rhizome system with distant ramets. Most of these ramets are non-floral. The main objectives of this study were to determine: (a) if plant growth was source limited in cloudberry; (b) if the non-floral ramets translocated carbon (C) to the fruit; and (c) if there was competition between fruit, leaves and rhizomes for C during fruit development.

Methods

Floral and non-floral ramet activities were monitored during the period of flower and fruit development using three approaches: gas exchange measurements, 14CO2 labelling and dry mass accumulation in the different organs. Source and sink activity were manipulated by eliminating leaves or flowers or by reducing rhizome length.

Key Results

Photosynthetic rates were lower in floral than in deflowered ramets. Autoradiographs and 14C labelling data clearly indicated that fruit is a very strong sink for the floral ramet, whereas non-floral ramets translocated C toward the rhizome but not toward floral ramets. Nevertheless, rhizomes received some C from the floral ramet throughout the fruiting period. Ramets with shorter rhizomes produced smaller leaves and smaller fruits, and defoliated ramets produced very small fruits.

Conclusions

Plant growth appears to be source-limited in cloudberry since a reduction in sink strength did not induce a reduction in photosynthetic activity. Non-floral ramets did not participate directly to fruit development. Developing leaves appear to compete with the developing fruit but the intensity of this competition could vary with the specific timing of the two organs. The rhizome appears to act both as a source but also potentially as a sink during fruit development. Further studies are needed to characterize better the complex role played by the rhizome in fruit C nutrition.

Objective: High temperature adversely affects quality and yield of tomato fruit. Polyamine can alleviate heat injury in plants. This study is aimed to investigate the effects of polyamine and high temperature on transcriptional profiles in ripening tomato fruit. Methods: An Affymetrix tomato microarray was used to evaluate changes in gene expression in response to exogenous spermidine (Spd, 1 mmol/L) and high temperature (33/27 °C) treatments in tomato fruits at mature green stage. Results: Of the 10 101 tomato probe sets represented on the array, 127 loci were differentially expressed in high temperature-treated fruits, compared with those under normal conditions, functionally characterized by their involvement in signal transduction, defense responses, oxidation reduction, and hormone responses. However, only 34 genes were up-regulated in Spd-treated fruits as compared with non-treated fruits, which were involved in primary metabolism, signal transduction, hormone responses, transcription factors, and stress responses. Meanwhile, 55 genes involved in energy metabolism, cell wall metabolism, and photosynthesis were down-regulated in Spd-treated fruits. Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that Spd might play an important role in regulation of tomato fruit response to high temperature during ripening stage.