Diploid (2n = 28) to 22-ploid (2n = 308): Functional trait variation and the large-genome constraint in mulberry ( Morus spp.)

The Evolution of Functional Traits in Plants: Is the Giant Still Sleeping?

柯-青冈常绿阔叶林优势树种叶片性状变异及适应策略

Differences in the leaf functional traits of six beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) populations are reflected in their response to water limitation

Cellular changes during Medicago truncatula hypocotyl growth depend on temperature and genotype

The concept of functional diversity is critical in the field of forest ecology as it helps determine trends in community structure and worldwide change by examining variations in functional traits among plants. Functional traits like leaf traits, stem traits, root traits etc., are characteristics of a species that incorporate its ecological and evolutionary history and can be used to predict both its response and impact on ecosystem function. During the present study, six functional leaf traits viz., leaf size (LS), specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), leaf nitrogen content (LNC), leaf phosphorus content (LPC), and leaf nitrogen to phosphorus ratio (N:P) were evaluated for a variety of trees and shrubs in the forests of semi-arid regions of Haryana, India i.e., Site I-Dulana (Mahendergarh), Site II-Kheri Batter (Charkhi Dadri) and Site III-Asalwas Dubia (Bhiwani). Functional leaf trait values showed a significant variation. LS was reported to be positively correlated with SLA(0.39) and N:P(0.11) while negatively correlated with LDMC(-0.26) LNC(-0.29) and LPC(-0.16). The selected plant species displayed a negative but weak correlation between SLA and LNC(-0.05) whilst a strong positive correlation between Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorus (P)(0.36). All three Sites had the value of N:P ranging from 12.58 to 65.69, thus exhibiting P limitation. The present study advances the field of functional ecology in Haryana's tropical dry forests significantly. This is also crucial to forecast community formation trends and characterize the contributions of different species to ecological processes.

Endopolyploidy occurs when DNA replication takes place without subsequent mitotic nuclear division, resulting in cell-specific ploidy levels within tissues. In plants, endopolyploidy plays an important role in sustaining growth and development, but only a few studies have demonstrated a role in abiotic stress response. In this study, we investigated the function of ploidy level and nuclear and cell size in leaf expansion throughout development and tracked cell type-specific ploidy in the halophyte Mesembryanthemum crystallinum In addition to developmental endopolyploidy, we examined the effects of salinity stress on ploidy level. We focused specifically on epidermal bladder cells (EBC), which are modified balloon-like trichomes, due to their large size and role in salt accumulation. Our results demonstrate that ploidy increases as the leaves expand in a similar manner for each leaf type, and ploidy levels up to 512C were recorded for nuclei in EBC of leaves of adult plants. Salt treatment led to a significant increase in ploidy levels in the EBC, and these cells showed spatially related differences in their ploidy and nuclear and cell size depending on the positions on the leaf and stem surface. Transcriptome analysis highlighted salinity-induced changes in genes involved in DNA replication, cell cycle, endoreduplication, and trichome development in EBC. The increase in cell size and ploidy observed in M. crystallinum under salinity stress may contribute to salt tolerance by increasing the storage capacity for sodium sequestration brought about by higher metabolic activity driving rapid cell enlargement in the leaf tissue and EBC.

Antecedentes y Objetivos: Cosmos secc. Discopoda (Asteraceae, Coreopsideae) es un modelo de estudio sobre poliploidía y aneuploidía. La sección es monofilética, agrupa 24 especies herbáceas perennes y existen especies poliploides y aneuploides. Sin embargo, no se conocen los números cromosómicos para todas las especies y su citogeografía no ha sido estudiada. El propósito de la presente comunicación es dar a conocer conteos cromosómicos para tres especies y discutir sobre el nivel de ploidía ancestral y patrones de distribución geográfica de los niveles de ploidía en la sección.Métodos: Se realizó una recopilación de los registros cromosómicos y se realizaron conteos cromosómicos para tres especies a partir de la preparación de estructuras vegetativas. Mediante un sistema de información geográfica y una base de datos geográficos con 810 registros, se analizó la distribución geográfica de niveles de ploidía asignando un nivel de ploidía a cada registro por especie. Además, se realizó una reconstrucción del nivel de ploidía ancestral mediante análisis empleando un modelo de máxima verosimilitud.Resultados clave: Cosmos nitidus y C. ramirezianus son diploides (2n=2x=24) y C. pseudoperfoliatus es tetraploide (2n=4x=48). En Cosmos secc. Discopoda actualmente se conoce el número cromosómico de 20 especies, 12 son diploides (2n=2x), seis taxa son exclusivamente poliploides (2n=4x, 6x, 8x), cuatro son diploides y poliploides y existen dos eventos independientes de aneuploidía. La reconstrucción del nivel de ploidía ancestral permite reconocer que x=12 es el número cromosómico básico en la sección.Conclusiones: Las especies de Cosmos secc. Discopoda no muestran una correlación entre los niveles de ploidía y sus rangos de distribución geográfica. En contraste, existe un aumento del nivel de ploidía de sur a norte, con una concentración de poliploides en el norte de la Sierra Madre Occidental.

海南岛霸王岭热带云雾林木本植物功能性状的分异规律

In an arid region, water is the limiting factor for the performance of plants and, hence, the input of water significantly affects the ecological processes. Although the dew phenomenon often occurs in the desert, whether plants can absorb and utilise this water source is still unknown. In this study, we tested the effects of 3 amounts of dew, that is, total natural amount of dew, half amount of natural dew, and no amount of (zero) dew, in order to investigate variations in functional traits and demographic traits in relation to the life history of an ephemeral plant Lappula semiglabra. Results showed that variations in functional traits including plant height, crown area, leaf area, leaf thickness, leaf relative water content, chlorophyll content, and net photosynthetic rate were significantly increased with increasing dew amount. Leaf water potential was significantly decreased, whereas root length and root diameter showed no significant differences among 3 amounts of dew. Demographic traits including survival rate, survival, total age, and mean life expectancy increased with increasing dew amount, whereas the vanish rate percentage, mortality rate, mortality, and fatal number decreased. In combination, our results showed that leaf and stem traits L. semiglabra related to dew absorption increased with increasing of dew amount, and hence, obtained more water, whereas root traits related to uptake of soil water remain unchanged. We conclude that leaves and stem of L. semiglabra can absorb and efficiently utilise dew as a water resource for better suitability in the arid desert region.

Nutrient enrichment impacts grassland plant diversity such as species richness, functional trait composition and diversity, but whether and how these changes affect ecosystem stability in the face of increasing climate extremes remains largely unknown. We quantified the direct and diversity‐mediated effects of nutrient addition (by nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) on the stability of above‐ground biomass production in 10 long‐term grassland experimental sites. We measured five facets of stability as the temporal invariability, resistance during and recovery after extreme dry and wet growing seasons. Leaf traits (leaf carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and specific leaf area) were measured under ambient and nutrient addition conditions in the field and were used to construct the leaf economic spectrum (LES). We calculated functional trait composition and diversity of LES and of single leaf traits. We quantified the contribution of intraspecific trait shifts and species replacement to change in functional trait composition as responses to nutrient addition and its implications for ecosystem stability. Nutrient addition decreased functional trait diversity and drove grassland communities to the faster end of the LES primarily through intraspecific trait shifts, suggesting that intraspecific trait shifts should be included for accurately predicting ecosystem stability. Moreover, the change in functional trait diversity of the LES in turn influenced different facets of stability. That said, these diversity‐mediated effects were overall weak and/or overwhelmed by the direct effects of nutrient addition on stability. As a result, nutrient addition did not strongly impact any of the stability facets. These results were generally consistent using individual leaf traits but the dominant pathways differed. Importantly, major influencing pathways differed using average trait values extracted from global trait databases (e.g. TRY). Synthesis. Investigating changes in multiple facets of plant diversity and their impacts on multidimensional stability under global changes such as nutrient enrichment can improve our understanding of the processes and mechanisms maintaining ecosystem stability.

Overcompensation, environmental stress, and the role of endoreduplication.

Polyploidy is considered to be a major source of genetic diversity in plants. Genome duplication has been shown repeatedly to be associated with changes in biotic interactions, but little is known about whether species traits such as herbivore resistance consistently change with increasing ploidy level among closely related plant species. We tested whether larval survival and performance of the specialist root‐mining moth Dichrorampha aeratana are influenced by the ploidy level of plant species in the genus Leucanthemum by experimentally infesting 16 different taxa with ploidy levels ranging from diploid to dodecaploid. We found that survival of D. aeratana larvae consistently decreased with increasing ploidy level, irrespective of whether phylogenetic distance among taxa was taken into account or not. The mass of larvae and the proportion of adults emerging from last‐instar larvae, however, did not consistently change with increasing ploidy level. Root biomass and dry matter content of the Leucanthemum taxa were neither correlated with ploidy level nor correlated with survival or mass of D. aeratana larvae. In summary, our results provide evidence that in the genus Leucanthemum, resistance to the specialist root herbivore D. aeratana consistently increases with increasing plant ploidy level, but it remains unclear which characteristics associated with polyploidy account for the higher herbivore resistance.

Since old days, various plants are rich source of medicines. Ayurveda and other literature have claimed the different medicinal properties against certain serious diseases. Various researches have been conducted in last decades on different medicinal plants. The present review highlighted the potentiality of different medicinal properties of Morus species viz –Morus alba, Morus rubra, Morus serrata, Morus laevigata, Morus nigra, Morus macroura, Morus cathayana, Morus australis, Morus bombycis etc. Key words: Mulberry, medicinal properties and biomolecules.

Interspecific variation in plant functional traits is the basis of species coexistence in natural ecosystems. However, intraspecific variation is also extremely important for community assemblage and distribution. Here, we sampled 28 dominant tree species with two different leaf forms (14 evergreen species and 14 deciduous species, respectively, obtained by species abundance ranking) in a subtropical evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved mixed forest in Hubei Xingdoushan National Nature Reserve. Differences in interspecific and intraspecific variations of four functional traits were explored, including specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), leaf area (LA), and stem specific density (SSD). Results demonstrated that: (1) There were significant differences in the four functional traits between evergreen and deciduous trees. The SLA and LA of evergreen species were significantly lower than those of deciduous species, but LDMC and SSD showed the opposite pattern; (2) Leaf habit was the main source (57.49%) for variation of SLA. Interspecific variability (66.80%) played an important role in LA than intraspecific variability (27.52%). LDMC variation was contributed relatively evenly by interspecific (38.12%) and intraspecific (33.88%) variability. On the contrary, the variation in SSD was explained more by intraspecific (51.50%) than interspecific (32.52%) variability; (3) Correlations of different functional traits on intraspecific levels of both evergreen and deciduous trees were higher than those found for interspecific levels. Our results ·研究报告· 第 3期 唐青青等: 亚热带常绿落叶阔叶混交林植物功能性状的种间和种内变异 263 showed that the variation of functional traits between communities could be influenced significantly by intraspecific variability. However, there were differences in the degree of variation of different functional traits.

Variability of earthworm's functional traits in eastern Amazon is more species-dependent than environment-dependent