Plants which reproduce sexually

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Effects of light quantity and quality on growth and reproduction of a clonal sedge, Cyperus esculentus. Plant Species Biology , 16 , 69— Interclonal differences, plasticity and trade-offs of life history traits of Cyperus esculentus in relation to water availability.

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Masuda, M. Reproductive ecology of a cleistogamous annual, Impatiens noli-tangere L. Ecological Research, 9 , 67— Maurer, D. Differential invasion of a wetland grass explained by tests of nutrients and light availability on establishment and clonal growth.

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Australian Journal of Botany, 48 , — Thomas, A. The role of seed reproduction in the dynamics of established populations of Hieracium floribundum and a comparison with that of vegetative reproduction. Canadian Journal of Botany, 53 , — Thompson, F. Trade-offs between sexual and clonal reproduction in an aquatic plant: experimental manipulations vs. Journal of evolutionary biology, 17 , — Tilman, D. Plant strategies and the dynamics and structure of plant communities.

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Weed Science, 56 , — Weiss, P. Germination, reproduction and interference in the amphicarpic annual Emex spinosa L. Oecologia, 45 , — Whitefield, P The living landscape: how to read and understand it. Cambridge: Permanent Publications. Wilken, D. The balance between chasmogamy and cleistogamy in Collomia grandiflora Polemoniaceae. American Journal of Botany, 69 , — Winkler, E. Shimizu et al. Both examples stress the importance of next-generation DNA sequencing in making this new, systems biology approach to plant reproductive biology possible.

It is therefore fitting to end with a paper that looks to the future for plant reproductive biology research — a future made bright by technological advances in DNA sequencing and analysis that will offer hope for understanding the basis of natural variation among reproductive traits and its relationship with phenotypic plasticity.

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Sign In or Create an Account. Sign In. Advanced Search. Search Menu. Article Navigation. Close mobile search navigation Article Navigation. Volume Sexual Plant Reproduction. Hiscock Simon J. E-mail: Simon. Hiscock bristol. Oxford Academic. Cite Cite Simon J. Select Format Select format.

Permissions Icon Permissions. Pollen—pistil interactions and self-incompatibility in the Asteraceae: new insights from studies of Senecio squalidus Oxford ragwort. Google Scholar Crossref. Search ADS. Using maize as a model to study pollen tube growth and guidance, cross-incompatibility and sperm delivery in grasses.

Stamen development and winter dormancy in apricot Prunus armeniaca. Progress towards elucidating the mechanisms of self-incompatibility in the grasses: further insights from studies in Lolium. The good, the bad and the flexible: plant interactions with pollinators and herbivores over space and time are moderated by plant compensatory responses. Floral heteromorphy in Primula vulgaris : progress towards isolation and characterization of the S locus.

Proteins implicated in mediating self-incompatibility-induced alterations to the actin cytoskeleton of Papaver pollen. Unique stigmatic hairs and pollen-tube growth within the stigmatic cell wall in the early-divergent angiosperm family Hydatellaceae.

Many plants, such as cucumber, have male and female flowers located on different parts of the plant, thus making self-pollination difficult. In yet other species, the male and female flowers are borne on different plants dioecious. All of these are barriers to self-pollination; therefore, the plants depend on pollinators to transfer pollen. The majority of pollinators are biotic agents such as insects like bees, flies, and butterflies , bats, birds, and other animals. Other plant species are pollinated by abiotic agents, such as wind and water.

Figure 1. Insects, such as bees, are important agents of pollination. Bees are perhaps the most important pollinator of many garden plants and most commercial fruit trees Figure 1. The most common species of bees are bumblebees and honeybees. Since bees cannot see the color red, bee-pollinated flowers usually have shades of blue, yellow, or other colors.

Bees collect energy-rich pollen or nectar for their survival and energy needs. They visit flowers that are open during the day, are brightly colored, have a strong aroma or scent, and have a tubular shape, typically with the presence of a nectar guide. A nectar guide includes regions on the flower petals that are visible only to bees, and not to humans; it helps to guide bees to the center of the flower, thus making the pollination process more efficient.

Recently, there have been many reports about the declining population of honeybees. Many flowers will remain unpollinated and not bear seed if honeybees disappear. The impact on commercial fruit growers could be devastating. Many flies are attracted to flowers that have a decaying smell or an odor of rotting flesh. These flowers, which produce nectar, usually have dull colors, such as brown or purple. They are found on the corpse flower or voodoo lily Amorphophallus , dragon arum Dracunculus , and carrion flower Stapleia , Rafflesia.

The nectar provides energy, whereas the pollen provides protein. Wasps are also important insect pollinators, and pollinate many species of figs. Figure 2. A corn earworm sips nectar from a night-blooming Gaura plant. Butterflies, such as the monarch, pollinate many garden flowers and wildflowers, which usually occur in clusters. These flowers are brightly colored, have a strong fragrance, are open during the day, and have nectar guides to make access to nectar easier.

Moths, on the other hand, pollinate flowers during the late afternoon and night. The flowers pollinated by moths are pale or white and are flat, enabling the moths to land. One well-studied example of a moth-pollinated plant is the yucca plant, which is pollinated by the yucca moth. The shape of the flower and moth have adapted in such a way as to allow successful pollination.

The moth deposits pollen on the sticky stigma for fertilization to occur later. The female moth also deposits eggs into the ovary. As the eggs develop into larvae, they obtain food from the flower and developing seeds. Thus, both the insect and flower benefit from each other in this symbiotic relationship. The corn earworm moth and Gaura plant have a similar relationship Figure 2.

In the tropics and deserts, bats are often the pollinators of nocturnal flowers such as agave, guava, and morning glory. The flowers are usually large and white or pale-colored; thus, they can be distinguished from the dark surroundings at night. The flowers have a strong, fruity, or musky fragrance and produce large amounts of nectar. They are naturally large and wide-mouthed to accommodate the head of the bat.

As the bats seek the nectar, their faces and heads become covered with pollen, which is then transferred to the next flower.

Figure 3. Hummingbirds have adaptations that allow them to reach the nectar of certain tubular flowers. Many species of small birds, such as the hummingbird Figure 3 and sun birds, are pollinators for plants such as orchids and other wildflowers. Flowers visited by birds are usually sturdy and are oriented in such a way as to allow the birds to stay near the flower without getting their wings entangled in the nearby flowers.

Brightly colored, odorless flowers that are open during the day are pollinated by birds. Botanists have been known to determine the range of extinct plants by collecting and identifying pollen from year-old bird specimens from the same site. Most species of conifers, and many angiosperms, such as grasses, maples and oaks, are pollinated by wind.

Pine cones are brown and unscented, while the flowers of wind-pollinated angiosperm species are usually green, small, may have small or no petals, and produce large amounts of pollen. Unlike the typical insect-pollinated flowers, flowers adapted to pollination by wind do not produce nectar or scent.

In wind-pollinated species, the microsporangia hang out of the flower, and, as the wind blows, the lightweight pollen is carried with it Figure 4. The flowers usually emerge early in the spring, before the leaves, so that the leaves do not block the movement of the wind.

The pollen is deposited on the exposed feathery stigma of the flower Figure 5. Figure 5. These male a and female b catkins are from the goat willow tree Salix caprea. Note how both structures are light and feathery to better disperse and catch the wind-blown pollen.

Some weeds, such as Australian sea grass and pond weeds, are pollinated by water. The pollen floats on water, and when it comes into contact with the flower, it is deposited inside the flower. Figure 6. Certain orchids use food deception or sexual deception to attract pollinators.

Shown here is a bee orchid Ophrys apifera. Orchids are highly valued flowers, with many rare varieties Figure 6. They grow in a range of specific habitats, mainly in the tropics of Asia, South America, and Central America.

At least 25, species of orchids have been identified. Flowers often attract pollinators with food rewards, in the form of nectar. However, some species of orchid are an exception to this standard: they have evolved different ways to attract the desired pollinators. They use a method known as food deception, in which bright colors and perfumes are offered, but no food. Anacamptis morio , commonly known as the green-winged orchid, bears bright purple flowers and emits a strong scent. The bumblebee, its main pollinator, is attracted to the flower because of the strong scent—which usually indicates food for a bee—and in the process, picks up the pollen to be transported to another flower.

Other orchids use sexual deception. Chiloglottis trapeziformis emits a compound that smells the same as the pheromone emitted by a female wasp to attract male wasps. The male wasp is attracted to the scent, lands on the orchid flower, and in the process, transfers pollen.

Some orchids, like the Australian hammer orchid, use scent as well as visual trickery in yet another sexual deception strategy to attract wasps. The flower of this orchid mimics the appearance of a female wasp and emits a pheromone. The male wasp tries to mate with what appears to be a female wasp, and in the process, picks up pollen, which it then transfers to the next counterfeit mate.

After pollen is deposited on the stigma, it must germinate and grow through the style to reach the ovule. The microspores, or the pollen, contain two cells: the pollen tube cell and the generative cell. The pollen tube cell grows into a pollen tube through which the generative cell travels.

The germination of the pollen tube requires water, oxygen, and certain chemical signals. In the meantime, if the generative cell has not already split into two cells, it now divides to form two sperm cells.

The pollen tube is guided by the chemicals secreted by the synergids present in the embryo sac, and it enters the ovule sac through the micropyle. Of the two sperm cells, one sperm fertilizes the egg cell, forming a diploid zygote; the other sperm fuses with the two polar nuclei, forming a triploid cell that develops into the endosperm.

Together, these two fertilization events in angiosperms are known as double fertilization Figure 7.