Effects of vegetative growth, plant size and flowering order on sexual reproduction allocation of Tulipa sinkiangensis

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1003.2012.09064

Abstract

Abstract:

The relationship between sexual reproduction and resource allocation plays an important role in plant life history and in the evolution of breeding systems. Tulipa sinkiangensis is an early spring perennial ephemeral species endemic to the desert zone of the northern piedmont of the Tianshan Mountains, Xinjiang, China. This species produces offspring only by sexual reproduction, and produces 1-8 flowers per individual in natural populations. The relationships between sexual reproduction allocation and vegetative growth and plant size, respectively, and resource allocation among flowers and fruits at different positions within the inflorescence were studied in T. sinkiangensis. Our aims were to explore the effect of vegetative growth, plant size and flowering order on sexual reproduction allocation in this species. There was a negative correlation between the resources that plants allocate to both vegetative organs (bulb and aboveground vegetative organs) and sexual reproductive organs at flowering stage and fruit maturation stage (P<0.01), suggesting that resource allocation between vegetative growth and sexual reproduction is a trade-off. Production of multiple flowers is a stable character in this species―the total number and biomass of flowers, total fruit biomass, and total number of seeds per individual were positively correlated with plant biomass (P<0.01), indicating that sexual reproduction allocation is size-dependent. In individuals with 2-5 flowers, the biomass of flowers, pollen and ovule production, fruit-set, fruit biomass, seed number, seed-set, and 100-seed weight declined successively with flowering order within the inflorescence, indicating that resource competition for floral allocation was significant and that resource limitation for each flower or fruit is related to flowering order. Plants ensure their reproductive success by reducing resource allocation to late flowers or fruits and increasing the resource allocation to early flowers or fruits in this species.

Key words: Tulipa sinkiangensis, sexual reproduction, resource allocation, plant size, resources competition

Aysajan Abdusalam, Dunyan Tan, Omarxat Tahan. Effects of vegetative growth, plant size and flowering order on sexual reproduction allocation of Tulipa sinkiangensis[J]. Biodiv Sci, 2012, 20(3): 391-399.

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URL: https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/10.3724/SP.J.1003.2012.09064

https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/Y2012/V20/I3/391

Figures/Tables 6

Fig. 1 The biomass of vegetative organ and reproductive organ at flowering and fruit maturing stage in Tulipa sinkiangensis individual (Mean ±SE)

Table 1 The percentage of individuals with different flower number in natural population of Tulipa sinkiangensis

年份 Year	植株总数 Total individuals	具1朵花 With one flower (%)	具2朵花 With two flowers (%)	具3朵花 With three flowers (%)	具4朵花 With four flowers (%)	具5朵花 With five flowers (%)	具6朵花 With six flowers (%)	具7朵花 With seven flowers (%)	具8朵花 With eight flowers (%)
2008	1,594	56.27	38.77	3.01	1.13	0.38	0.25	0.19	0
2009	1,774	40.49	38.61	7.33	2.82	1.41	0.51	0.23	0.06
2011	1,808	60.06	36.28	1.88	0.94	0.55	0.28	0	0

Fig. 2 The relationship between total flower number, flower biomass and plant biomass in Tulipa sinkiangensis individuals. **P<0.01.

Fig. 3 The relationship between total fruit biomass, seed number and plant size in Tulipa sinkiangensis individuals. **P<0.01.

Fig. 4 The resource allocation of flower at different positions within the inflorescence in Tulipa sinkiangensis individual with 2-5 flowers. Numbers of 2, 3, 4 and 5 in X axis represent individuals with two, three, four and five flowers respectively. Different letters show a significant difference (P < 0.05) among flowers at different positions of individuals.

Fig. 5 The resource allocation of fruit at different positions within the inflorescence in T. sinkiangensis individual with 2-5 flowers. Numbers of 2, 3, 4 and 5 in X axis represent individual with two, three, four and five fruits respectively. Different letters show a significant difference (P < 0.05) among flowers at different positions of individuals.

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