Artificial selection, advantage

The Jerusalem artichoke can reproduce by two primary means. It can reproduce and colonize an area by the allocation of photosynthate and nutrients into both asexual (tubers and, to a lesser extent, rhizomes) and sexual (seed) reproductive organs. Flexibility in the amount of resources allocated between sexual and asexual means of reproduction confers a selective advantage in that conditions that inhibit or block sexual production (lack of pollen, herbivory of floral structures, undesirable weather) allow increased allocation to asexual reproduction. Artificially reduced allocation of resources to sexual reproduction, for example, results in a substantial increase in those allocated to asexual means. With flower bud removal, more (82 vs. 69) and larger (4.4 vs. 3.8 g) tubers were formed per plant than those with unlimited sexual reproduction (Wesdey, 1993). Total biomass was not altered, potentially indicating a relatively complete diversion of resources to asexual reproduction when sexual reproduction is blocked. From a reproductive standpoint, the risk of making it to the next season is high with sexual reproduction and relatively low with asexual reproduction. Increased investment in tubers increases the opportunity for sexual reproduction in the future. 

The unique ability of crown ethers to form stable complexes with various cations has been used to advantage in such diverse processes as isotope separations (Jepson and De Witt, 1976), the transport of ions through artificial and natural membranes (Tosteson, 1968) and the construction of ion-selective electrodes (Ryba and Petranek, 1973). On account of their lipophilic exterior, crown ether complexes are often soluble even in apolar solvents. This property has been successfully exploited in liquid-liquid and solid-liquid phase-transfer reactions. Extensive reviews deal with the synthetic aspects of the use of crown ethers as phase-transfer catalysts (Gokel and Dupont Durst, 1976 Liotta, 1978 Weber and Gokel, 1977 Starks and Liotta, 1978). Several studies have been devoted to the identification of the factors affecting the formation and stability of crown-ether complexes, and many aspects of this subject have been discussed in reviews (Christensen et al., 1971, 1974 Pedersen and Frensdorf, 1972 Izatt et al., 1973 Kappenstein, 1974). 

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