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Dispersal biophysics and adaptive significance of dimorphic diaspores in the annual Aethionema arabicum (Brassicaceae)
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Dispersal biophysics and adaptive significance of dimorphic diaspores in the annual Aethionema arabicum (Brassicaceae)
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Journal Article
Dispersal biophysics and adaptive significance of dimorphic diaspores in the annual Aethionema arabicum (Brassicaceae)
2019
Overview
• Heteromorphic diaspores (fruits and seeds) are an adaptive bet-hedging strategy to cope with spatiotemporally variable environments, particularly fluctuations in favourable temperatures and unpredictable precipitation regimes in arid climates.
• We conducted comparative analyses of the biophysical and ecophysiological properties of the two distinct diaspores (mucilaginous seed (M⁺) vs indehiscent (IND) fruit) in the dimorphic annual Aethionema arabicum (Brassicaceae), linking fruit biomechanics, dispersal aerodynamics, pericarp-imposed dormancy, diaspore abscisic acid (ABA) concentration, and phenotypic plasticity of dimorphic diaspore production to its natural habitat and climate.
• Two very contrasting dispersal mechanisms of the A. arabicum dimorphic diaspores were revealed. Dehiscence of large fruits leads to the release of M⁺ seed diaspores, which adhere to substrata via seed coat mucilage, thereby preventing dispersal (antitelechory). IND fruit diaspores (containing nonmucilaginous seeds) disperse by wind or water currents, promoting dispersal (telechory) over a longer range.
• The pericarp properties confer enhanced dispersal ability and degree of dormancy on the IND fruit morph to support telechory, while the M⁺ seed morph supports antitelechory. Combined with the phenotypic plasticity to produce more IND fruit diaspores in colder temperatures, this constitutes a bet-hedging survival strategy to magnify the prevalence in response to selection pressures acting over hilly terrain.
