Plant Reproduction - Science topic

Pollinators have been negatively impacted by agricultural intensification, loss of natural habitats and habitat fragmentation. This has raised concern about the persistence of plant species dependent on insect pollination in semi-natural grasslands where these are remnants of larger grazed areas, now surrounded by intensive agriculture and forests....

Grasslands face rapid decline worldwide. Among the main threats to these ecosystems are changes in land use, such as abandonment and forestation, which promote forest vegetation to the detriment of grassland plant diversity. To support the conservation and restoration of grasslands, it is key to understand what ecological processes limit the recove...

The accurate identification of butterfly species is of paramount importance due to their critical role as pollinators and their complex interactions within ecosystems. These insects serve as essential agents in plant reproduction through pollination and are key subjects in ecological research. Their interactions with humans, flora, and fauna can re...

Flower exposure to high temperature reduces the production, viability, and performance of pollen, ovules, and seeds, which in turn impairs individual fecundity and risks the survival of populations. Autonomous floral cooling could alleviate the effects of flower exposure to harmful temperatures, yet investigations on thermal ecology of flowers in h...

Pollinators play a crucial role in the ecosystem aiding plant reproduction through their diverse foraging, communication and navigation behaviors. Foraging strategies vary among pollinator species, each exhibiting specialized adaptations for collecting nectar, pollen, or other floral resources. Communication within pollinator communities relies on...

Flowering and fruiting phenology can have large impacts on a plant's reproductive success. In many plant species, these phenological events are controlled by seasonal climatic cues, resulting in one‐year reproductive cycles. However, parts of SE Asian tropical forests have an aseasonal climate with irregular fluctuations. This database comprises ph...

Key message In our study, we identified the gene Gohir.A08G240900 as a potential target for regulating cotton plant height, providing a genetic basis for enhancing cotton morphology. Abstract Arabinogalactan peptides are a class of hydroxyproline-rich proteins widely distributed in plants that participate in many life processes, including growth a...

Sugars will eventually be exported transporter (SWEET), a class of glucose transport proteins, is crucial in plants for glucose transport by redistribution of sugars and regulates growth, development, and stress tolerance. Although the SWEET family has been studied in many plants, little is known about its function in winter B. rapa (Brassica rapa...

Abstract: Herbivores can negatively impact plant reproduction by altering floral traits, pollination, and fruit production. To counteract this, plants developed defense mechanisms, such as the biotic defense resulting from associations with ants. The aim of this study was to investigate whether leaf herbivory at different intensities influences rep...

This comprehensive review explores the significance of palynology, focusing on the study of plant pollen, spores, and microscopic organisms, and its relevance to the reproductive and medicinal aspects of flowering plants. Emphasizing pollen morphology as a key factor in plant reproduction, the review delves into parameters such as size, shape, symm...

Pollen is a cornerstone of life for plants. Its durability, adaptability, and complex design are the key factors to successful plant reproduction, genetic diversity, and the maintenance of ecosystems. A detailed study of its chemical composition is important to understand the mechanism of pollen–pollinator interactions, pollination processes, and a...

Habitat loss and fragmentation have led to smaller and more isolated plant populations, impacting population performance through changes in genetic processes, demographic structure, and pollinator availability. Understanding the interactive effects of these factors is crucial for sustaining and restoring viable populations. This study analysed the...

Floral nectar is essential for plant-pollinator interactions, directly influencing plant reproduction. Although the composition of nectar has been widely studied, the daily dynamics of non-sugar components in the nectar remain unknown. In this study, we investigated the diurnal dynamics of nectar volume, composition, and pollinator visitation in an...

Flower development progresses through twelve distinct stages, meticulously regulated to optimize plant reproductive success. At stage 5, the initiation of anther development occurs, which is further categorized into 14 stages divided into two defined phases: phase 1, known as microsporogenesis, and phase 2, termed microgametogenesis—encompassing po...

Peptides, currently being considered as a novel class of plant hormones, play diverse roles in plant growth and development. Peptides trigger signaling by binding to receptors and co-receptors, thus activating cellular signaling pathways. Recently, peptides have been extensively investigated in plant reproduction-related processes, ranging from gam...

Understanding the complex mechanisms underlying sex differentiation in dioecious plants is fundamental to elucidating plant reproductive strategies and their adaptive responses to environmental stresses. Pistacia chinensis, previously considered a strictly dioecious species, has been found to exhibit monoecy, with sex differentiation closely linked...

Extreme heat events are increasingly common, and if these align with pollen development, they can alter pollen nutrient composition. However, no studies have examined how the timing of heat relative to bud development affects the role of pollen in plant pollination and bee health. To explore this, we exposed highbush blueberry plants to extreme hea...

Premise of the study Plant reproductive strategies are particularly relevant on islands, where environmental constraints usually shape ecological dynamics. In this sense, the role of lizards (Lacertilia) as flower visitors and potential pollinators has been increasingly recognized. However, lizards may also consume plant reproductive tissues, poten...

The transition from flower to fruit, naturally triggered by flower pollination and known as fruit set, is instrumental for plant reproduction, seed formation, and crop yield. Notably, this developmental process can also proceed in the absence of flower fertilization, although it remains unclear whether pollination-dependent and pollination-independ...

MADS-box transcription factors are key regulators of plant reproductive phase change. Larix kaempferi homologs of DEFICIENS-AGAMOUS-LIKE 1 (DAL1) and SUPPRESSOR OF OVEREXPRESSION OF CONSTANS 1 (SOC1) have age-dependent expression patterns, characteristic of regulators of plant reproductive phase change. L. kaempferi DAL1 is suggested to be a time r...

Pollination is a key component for plant reproduction and maintenance and can be directly altered by anthropogenic disturbances, such as traditional plant management. Plant management causes changes in several floral and reproductive traits, including floral morphology, number of reproductive structures, and reproductive success. We investigated fl...

Pollinator‐mediated and pollinator‐independent interactions both affect plant reproductive success but are often studied independently. Evaluating the separate and cumulative effect of both types of interactions is necessary to understand population dynamics and species coexistence. Here, we ask how interactions during growth and flowering contribu...

The relationship between polyploid formation, triploid fitness and plant reproduction has been studied for over a century, and uniparental reproduction has long been recognized to play a crucial role in polyploid establishment. Yet, we lack a synthesized framework of how polyploid establishment is expected to be influenced by different reproductive...

Differential transpiration is a newly discovered acclimation strategy of annual plants to a combination of water deficit (WD) and heat stress (HS). Under these conditions (i.e., WD+HS), transpiration of vegetative tissues is suppressed in plants such as soybean and tomato, while transpiration of reproductive tissues is not (termed Differential Tran...

Modern agricultural practices rely on high-input, intensive cultivation of a few crop varieties with limited diversity, increasing the vulnerability of our agricultural systems to biotic and abiotic stresses and the effects of climate changes. This necessitates a paradigm shift toward a more sustainable agricultural model to ensure a stable and dep...

Tropical mountains often harbour high species richness. Yet the mechanisms behind such high richness remain poorly understood. One prominent hypothesis for high species richness is niche partitioning, which reduces competition and promotes coexistence. Here, we evaluate niche structure and specialisation of plant species based on the floral traits...

Climate change is expected to affect the morphological, physiological, and life‐history traits of plants and animal pollinators due to more frequent extreme heat and other altered weather patterns. This systematic literature review evaluates the effects of climate change on plant and pollinator traits on a global scale to determine how species resp...

Water-soluble constituents in the root exudates of C. pilosula exhibit both allelopathic and auto-toxic properties, which substantially impede its growth. To mitigate the constraints associated with the continuous cropping of C. pilosula, this study examined the impact of aqueous extracts from the root exudates at various developmental stages on se...

Hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress disrupts cytosolic Ca²⁺ homeostasis, a critical indicator of pollen fertility. Thus, measuring Ca²⁺ levels provides valuable insights into the role of antioxidants in protecting plant reproductive processes. Given the established link between high temperatures and oxidative stress, this study evaluates the...

Urbanization is a key driver of the Anthropocene, drastically altering landscapes and potentially impacting plant’s life history and traits. Urban conditions may, for example, skew sexual biomass allocation in hermaphroditic flowers, while the influence of urban stress on sexual investment and reproductive processes is poorly understood. Additional...

Seeds are crucial for plant reproduction, dispersal and agriculture. Seed quality and vigour greatly impact crop production by enabling rapid and uniform germination under various environmental conditions. This leads to healthy seedlings that can withstand both biotic and abiotic stresses, which are particularly important in the context of the acce...

Background/Objectives: Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) provides a model for exploring the molecular basis of sex determination, particularly the regulation of floral organ differentiation through gene expression. This complex process is modulated by epigenetic factors, such as histone acetyltransferases (HATs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs), which res...

Societal Impact Statement Understanding plant reproductive strategies is vital for conserving endangered species. This study reveals a novel self‐pollination mechanism in the diminutive orchid Stigmatodactylus sikokianus, facilitated by the movement of a finger‐like appendage beneath the stigma. While this less‐than‐1‐mm‐long structure inspired the...

Opportunistic nectarivory occurs in many avian lineages around the world. In order to understand the implications of this behavior to plant reproduction via pollination and to other nectarivores via competition, more thorough descriptions of opportunistic nectar‐feeding behavior are necessary. We observed nectar feeding of the mallee ringneck, Barn...

The distylous plant Primula veris has long served as a model species for studying heterostyly, that is the occurrence of multiple floral morphs within a population to ensure outcrossing. Habitat loss, reduced plant population sizes, and climate change have raised concerns about the impact of these factors on morph ratios and the related consequence...

Puya raimondii Harms is a charismatic species discovered in the Cordillera Blanca (now Huascarán National Park, Peru) in 1867 by the great Italian-born Peruvian geographer and naturalist Antonio Raimondi. The importance of this plant is due to its imposing size, the rare and extreme ecosystem that depends on it, and the fact that it is linked to th...

Reproductive traits and plant-pollinator interactions largely depend on seasonal weather conditions, which are species-specific. Turnera ulmifolia is an ornamental plant distributed worldwide. There is little information about plant species' reproductive ecology and environmental factors' impact on it. Here, we aimed to examine the effects of seaso...

Small GTPases of the Ras superfamily are critical regulators of diverse cellular processes. While cross-talk between their signaling pathways has been documented in animals, similar mechanisms remain unexplored in plants, where small GTPases have undergone unique evolutionary diversification. Here, we identify REAP1/AtSWAP70 as a novel effector in...

Mowing is a primary practice in temperate L. chinensis meadows, which are severely degraded due to frequent mowing, overgrazing, and other factors, necessitating restoration and sustainable management. The natural recovery of these grasslands hinges on their germinable soil seed banks, which form the basis for future productivity. Thus, germinable...

The formation of the female germline is the fundamental process in most flowering plants’ sexual reproduction. In Arabidopsis, only one somatic cell obtains the female germline fate, and this process is regulated by different pathways. Megaspore mother cell (MMC) is the first female germline, and understanding MMC development is essential for compr...

Background The anthosphere, also known as the floral microbiome, is a crucial component of the plant reproductive system. Therefore, understanding the anthospheric microbiome is essential to explore the diversity, interactions, and functions of wildflowers that coexist in natural habitats. We aimed to explore microbial interaction mechanisms and ke...

Growing evidence points to microplastics as a serious environmental contaminant that affects terrestrial food chains and plants. Their presence in the soil can change its composition, influencing its porosity, water retention, and microbial activity, which can lower fertility and impede plant development. Microplastics can hinder the growth of both...

Environmental stressors, including pathogens, substantially affect the growth of host plants. However, how non-adapted bacteria influence nonhost plants has not been reported. Here, we reveal that infection of Arabidopsis flowers by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae PXO99A, a bacterial pathogen causing rice blight disease, suppresses ovule initiation a...

Karyotype changes are a formidable evolutionary force by directly impacting cross‐incompatibility, gene dosage, genetic linkage, chromosome segregation, and meiotic recombination landscape. These changes often arise spontaneously and are commonly detected within plant lineages, even between closely related accessions. One element that can influence...

The time interval between fires is a critical component of the fire regime that affects plant species persistence in fire‐prone ecosystems. Fire intervals that are too short or too long may not support regeneration from seed banks or resprouting. Fire intervals that support adequate regeneration may also vary with other factors such as climate, her...

The boreal forest, one of the world's largest terrestrial biomes, is currently experiencing rapid climate-driven changes. This review synthesizes the limited research available on climate-change impacts on boreal plant-pollinator systems, revealing several knowledge gaps and shedding light on the vulnerabilities of boreal ecosystems. Using four com...

Fruit pollination is a critical process for plant reproduction, affecting fruit production and biodiversity. This article explores the biological mechanisms of pollination, highlighting the roles of male and female reproductive structures, and discusses different types of pollination such as self-pollination and cross-pollination, each with its adv...

Pistia stratiotes L. is an aquatic plant widely found in freshwater ecosystems. This study investigates how temperature, photoperiod, fertilizer, and salinity affect its growth and reproductive success. The results showed that higher temperatures led to faster developmental stages, with germination taking 5.9 days at 30°C compared to 11.9 days at 2...

Sexual reproduction produces genetic variation, which is key for adaptations, whereas vegetative reproduction implies the replication and separation of ramets. Such a difference has deep implications for individual fitness and trait evolution and affects organismal responses to environmental changes at different spatio‐temporal scales. Within the p...

Climate change presents an escalating threat to plant life and biodiversity, driving shifts in ecosystems and altering the delicate balance of natural habitats. This paper examines the profound effects of climate change on plant species, focusing on temperature fluctuations, changing precipitation patterns, and extreme weather events. Rising temper...

Plant fitness is shaped by interactions with insect mutualists and antagonists. Vegetative (leaf) herbivory often results in increased allocation of resources to defense in order to deter further damage. This allocation to defense can reduce floral or reproductive allocation. Reductions in floral allocation can have negative effects on pollinator a...

Bees (Hymenoptera, Anthophila) are considered the main pollinating insects. However, in several regions of the planet, their populations have been decreasing and, consequently, the benefits of the pollination ecosystem service have decreased, both in natural and agricultural areas. Pollination is an important biological phenomenon, acted free of ch...

Strawberry production faces numerous challenges, with heat stress emerging as a significant factor that can negatively impact vegetative growth and fruit quality. High temperatures, especially those above 30°C (86°F), are common during the growing season and are particularly detrimental for strawberries, which are typically grown in temperate clima...

Abstract—The article provides an analytical review of the literature and our own works devoted to the study of cyto-histological, physiological (hormonal), molecular, and genetic features of organogenesis as a pathway of morphogenesis in calluses in culture conditions in vitro. Special attention is paid to the discussion of the controversial issue...

Seed dispersal by frugivorous mammals is crucial for plant reproduction, but anthropogenic disturbances can disrupt this process. However, there is a lack of research on mammalian seed dispersal in anthropogenic habitats, with few systematic literature reviews available. In order to address this gap, a review of scientific literature published sinc...

Premise of the study. Biological factors and environmental stresses are predominant elements affecting the progamic phase of sexual plant reproduction. Thus, new knowledge is needed to select and develop cultivars adapted to these changes. This work was conducted to evaluate the pollen growth dynamics and the stigmatic receptivity at normal and ele...

Plant reproductive development, particularly germ cell initiation, has been a central topic in plant biology for decades. However, the mechanisms driving the spatiotemporal patterning of diploid and haploid germ cell differentiation remain insufficiently understood. This article introduces the “two-way induction model,” which explains how diploid g...

Roses are one of the most important flowers applied to landscape, cut flowers, fragrance and food industries widely. As an effective method for plant reproduction, the regeneration via somatic embryos is the most promising method for breed improvement and genetic transformation of woody plants. However, lower somatic embryogenesis (SE) induction ra...

Background Thermosensitive male sterility (TMS) is a heritable agronomic trait influenced by the interaction between genotype and environment. The anthers of plants are composed of various specialized cells, each of which plays different roles in plant reproduction. In rapeseed (Brassica napus L.), Polima (pol) temperature-sensitive cytoplasmic mal...

Open seed plants or Gymnosperms and closed seed plants or Angiosperms are two subdivisions of seed plants. Seed plants reproduction tool consists of strobilus or flowers. The reproductive tool of closed seed plants is a flower that grows from a bud equipped with petals, stamens, and pistils. The purpose of this study was to observe the reproductive...

Background The frequency and intensity of droughts are expected to increase under global change, driven by anthropogenic climate change and water diversion. Precipitation is expected to become more episodic under climate change, with longer and warmer dry spells, although some areas might become wetter. Diversion of freshwater from lakes and rivers...

Flower mites are often assumed to negatively impact plant reproductive fitness by depleting floral resources for pollinators. However, there is a lack of studies directly investigating the effects of mites on pollination. This study explores the potential role of Hattena rhizophorae mites in the pollination of the anemophilous species Rhizophora ma...

In the complex dynamics of plant–insect interactions, the specialized galling of reproductive structures presents unique evolutionary adaptations. This study investigates the parasitic relationship between Arastichus gallicola (Hymenoptera, Eulophidae), an ovary-galling wasp, and the inflorescences of Thaumatophyllum bipinnatifidum (Araceae). We em...

Plants display a range of temporal patterns of inter‐annual reproduction, from relatively constant seed production to “mast seeding,” the synchronized and highly variable interannual seed production of plants within a population. Previous efforts have compiled global records of seed production in long‐lived plants to gain insight into seed producti...

Pollination is a crucial ecosystem service, yet pollinator species diversity is declining as a result of factors such as climate change, habitat loss and agricultural intensification. While previous studies have often examined the extreme scenario of complete pollinator removal, showing negative impacts on plant reproductive success, we take a more...

Climate change is one of the largest threats to grassland plant species, which can be modified by land management. Although climate change and land management are expected to separately and interactively influence plant demography, this has been rarely considered in climate change experiments. We used a large‐scale experiment in central Germany to...

The style is the female reproductive channel in flowers, receiving pollen and transmitting male gametes through elongating pollen tubes to the ovules during fertilization. In maize/corn, the styles are known as silks. Fertilization-stage silks contain diverse bacteria, possibly originating from pollen. Bacteria were cultured and individually sequen...

The ovule is a plant structure that upon fertilization, transforms into a seed. Successful fertilization is required for optimum crop productivity and is strongly affected by environmental conditions including temperature and precipitation. Climate change refers to sustained changes in global or regional climate patterns over an extended period, ty...

Apomictic plants are able to produce clonal seeds. This reproductive system allows the one-step fixation of any valuable trait for subsequent generations and would pave the way for a revolution in the agricultural system. Despite that, the introduction of apomixis in sexually reproducing crops has been hampered due to the difficulty in characterisi...

Pollen production and dispersal is critical to plant reproduction yet remains poorly understood in tropical forests. To address this knowledge gap, we are conducting a long-term pollen trapping study in the Barro Colorado Island (BCI) 50-ha plot, a study that began in 1991 and continues to this day. Pollen samples from 20 traps on the forest floor...

Plants and their interaction partners offer unparalleled views of evolutionary ecology. Nectar larceny, entailing nectar extraction without pollinating, is thought to be an example of a harmful, antagonistic behavior, but the precise consequences of floral larceny on plant reproductive success remain contentious. We conducted a comprehensive meta-a...

Different floral traits mediate interactions between plants and their visitors. Capitates Glandular Trichomes (CGT) can attract or repel visitors, particularly arthropods. In Helianthus annuus L., CGTs are located at the distal ends of the anther appendages. This study aimed to determine whether the presence of CGTs influences the behaviour of diur...

The flowering plant life cycle is completed by an alternation of diploid and haploid generations. The diploid sporophytes produce initial cells that undergo meiosis and produce spores. From haploid spores, male or female gametophytes, which produce gametes, develop. The union of gametes at fertilization restores diploidy in the zygote that initiate...

Whole genome duplication (WGD) likely plays an important role in plant macroevolution, and has been implicated in diversification rate shifts, structural innovations, and increased disparity. But the general effects of WGD are challenging to evaluate, in part due to the difficulty of directly comparing morphological patterns across disparate clades...

While UV-B radiation is beneficial to plant growth, it can also cause adverse effects. The pollen tube, a key component of plant reproduction with a tip growth mechanism, is an excellent cellular model for understanding how environmental stressors such as UV-B radiation affect plant cell growth. This research investigated the effect of UV-B on oliv...

Background Flower morphology is believed to be primarily shaped by the most important pollinators when more than one pollinating species visits the flowers. However, floral adaptation to the selection mediated by multiple pollinators has received little attention. The plant Stellera chamaejasme has evolved a pollination syndrome matching both lepid...

Flower exposure to high temperature reduces the production, viability and performance of pollen, ovules and seeds, which in turn reduces individual fecundity and risks the survival of populations. Autonomous flower cooling could help to alleviate exposure of pollen and ovules to harmful temperatures, yet investigations on the thermal ecology of flo...

Habitat loss is a major threat to biodiversity, but the effects of habitat fragmentation are less clear. Examining drivers of key demographic processes, such as reproduction, will clarify species‐level responses to fragmentation and broader effects on biodiversity. Yet, understanding how fragmentation affects demography has been challenging due to...

Wild pomegranate (Punica granatum L.), an important fruit in tropical and subtropical regions like Central Asia and Northern India, is highly valued for its economic and medicinal benefits. However, despite its potential, natural production of the fruit is hindered by pest damage and variation in fruit yield due to environmental factors. Genetic im...

Pollen function is critical for successful plant reproduction and crop productivity and it is important to develop accessible methods to quantitatively analyze pollen performance to enhance reproductive resilience. Here we introduce TubeTracker as a method to quantify key parameters of pollen performance such as, time to pollen grain germination, p...

Key message Constitutive expression of cucumber CsACS2 in Arabidopsis disrupts anther dehiscence and male fertility via ethylene signaling and DNA methylation, revealing new avenues for enhancing crop reproductive traits. Abstract The cucumber gene CsACS2, encoding ACC (1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid) synthase, plays a pivotal role in ethyl...

Salinity inhibits the uptake of nitrogen, which slows down the growth and prevents plant reproduction. Certain ions, especially chloride, are poisonous to plants; when their concentration increases, the plant becomes poisoned and eventually perishes. The adaptability of several table beet cultivars (Beta vulgaris L.) to saline water irrigation crea...