Dispersal biophysics and adaptive significance of dimorphic diaspores in the annual Aethionema arabicum (Brassicaceae).

ABSTRACT: 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. Deh

SUBMITTER: Arshad W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6492137 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature