Directional asymmetry estimates developmental instability in plants: A case report in Plantago major L. leaves

Abstract

In the present study, an additional approach was used to evaluate the potential effects of the industrial development on natural population of the common plantain (Plantago major L.), previously estimated using si2 as an index of fluctuation asymmetry (FA) together with the coefficient of variation (CV). In this study, directional asymmetry (DA), a form of asymmetry in bilaterally symmetric traits, was used in order to estimate its rule as a potential indicator of developmental instability in leaf traits. Obtained results shows significantly higher DA values for the vein distances within a leaf (VD) on environmentally stressed area than in the control site. Reporting significantly higher values of DA for VD on the environmentally stressed sample and a positive relationship between FA and CV values obtained for the same trait within the same site, in a previous study, the study corroborates the potential of DA as an indicator of developmental perturbations.