Plant Reproduction

I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree. 

Nowhere is biological cooperation more apparent than for reproduction of higher level plants. Flowering plants did not appear before there were insects to pollinate them. 

About 500 years ago, Europeans introduced horses and cattle, which ate the fruits of the Guanacaste tree and dispersed its seeds around the countryside. Faced with the task of restoring tropical dry forest, ecologist Daniel Janzen incorporated horses into his management plan. Restoration would be accelerated because this and other trees would be able to reproduce according to the cooperative method that had evolved long ago (Modes, 1999). 

Some plants are licentious and make no effort to control where their pollen goes. Their flowers tend to be flat and wide, easily reached by all creatures and able to spread pollen through the air (see Section 5.1). Other plants are more choosy. 

Flowers meant to attract birds are brightly colored and with little, if any, smell because birds have a poor sense of smell but a refined color vision. They especially like red. These flowers are also found on strong stems that offer the birds a perch. Flies like meaty, rotten smells, and bats and moths that fly at night like white flowers that are easily seen in the dark. 

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Newman B, Ladd P, Brundrett M, Dixon K. Effects of habitat fragmentation on plant reproductive success and population viability at the landscape and habitat scale. Biological Conservation, 2013.159 pp. 16-23. doi 10.1016/j.biocon.2012.10.009... 

Krolak JM, Taylor N, Dashek WV, Mills R. Azetidine-2-carboxylic acid-induced suppression of 14C-proline incorporation into cytoplasmic macromolecules and cell wall of Lilium longiflorum pollen, in Advances in Plant Reproductive Physiology (Malik CP, ed.), Kalyani Publishers, New Delhi, India, 1978, pp. 62-71. 

Chudzik B, Sniezko R. Similarities in some phenomena connected with maturation of crassi- and tenuinucellar ovules (Oenothera hookeri and brevistylis, Sinapis alba, Brassica napus, Galanthus nivalis). XV International Congress on Sexual Plant Reproduction, August 16-21, Wageningen, Germany, 1998. 

The effect of ozone injury on herbaceous plant reproduction has been mentioned earlier in this chapter and in Chapter 11. Seed production by annuals is influenced mainly by the envirorunental conditions of the current year, but perennial woody plants—particularly conifers—are erratic seed-producers. Intrinsic factors affecting cone production include age and vigor seasonal temperature and soil moisture are important environmental factors. ... 

Flavonoids often participate in plant reproduction, in the protection of reproductive tissues and seeds, and in seedling development. This may, in part, be due to their role in UV light shielding (thereby protecting DNA) and antioxidant properties, but other functions are also important. 

Camadro, E. L., Masuelli, R. W. (1995). A genetic model for the endosperm balance number (EBN) in the wild potato Solanum acaule Bitt. and two related diploid species. Sex Plant Reproduction, 8,283-288. 

Musgrave, M. E., Kuang, A., Porterfield, D. M. (1997). Plant reproduction in spaceflight environments. Grav. Space Biol. Bull., 10 2), 83-90. 

Meeuse, B. J.D. and Raskin, I. (1988). Sexual reproduction in the arum lily family, with emphasis on thermogenicity. Sexual Plant Reproduction 1 3-15. 

Phenylpropanoids Structural and Signaling Functions in Plant Reproductive Biology 511... 

We ve all heard about the ravages of acid rain. Resulting from toxic emissions in the environment, acid rain damages the leaves and needles on trees, reduces a tree s ability to withstand cold, drought, disease, and pests, and even inhibits or prevents plant reproduction. In an effort to stay alive and combat the acidity, tree roots pull important nutrients such as calcium and magnesium from the soil. These alkaline nutrients balance the effects of acid rain, but as they become depleted from the soil, the trees ability to survive is further strained. 

Historical Background. This chapter summarizes the USDA s contributions to brassinolide research, a field that has attracted very much attention since the discovery of brassinolide from rape pollen in 1979. For several decades, plant scientists have been investigating the reproductive process in plants, but without much success. In vertebrates, it is known that sex hormones are involved in the reproductive process. Such a process is poorly understood in plants. In the late 1930s, USDA scientists initiated pollen research to gain some insight into the plant reproductive system. We consider this initiative to be the beginning of brassinolide research. 

Yemm, E.W. Willis, J. (1954). The estimation of carbohydrates in plant extracts by anthrone. Journal of Biochemical, Vol.57, No.3, p. 508-514, ISSN 0264-6021 Zimmerman, M. (1988). Nectar production, flowering phenology, and strategies for pollination. In Doust, J.L. Doust, L.L. (Eds.). Plant reproductive ecology, patterns and strategies. Oxford, ISBN 01-950-51750, New York, USA... 

When raising plants in greenhouses, what facts must be known about plant reproduction ... 

The aquatic toxicity data generated in the lemna minor protocol was based on a seven-day test. After day three and day six the plants were placed in fresh dye baths, which simulated the periodic release of industrial wastewater into a local body of water. The dye and lemna minor plants were placed together at dye concentrations ranging from 10 to l,000mg/L. Aquatic toxicity was assessed based on the survival rate of the initial plant leaves (fronds) and plant reproduction. The starting frond count was 22 to 24. In these experiments frond count was plotted against dye concentration on days 3, 6, and 7. A lack of aquatic toxicity was concluded if there were no adverse effects on frond count at 300mg/L concentration. 

Binarova P, Hause G, Cenklova V, Cordewener JHG, van Lookeren Campagne MM. 1997. A short severe heat shock is required to induce embryogenesis in late binudear pollen of Brassica napus L. Sexual Plant Reproduction 10 200 - 208. 

Zaki MAM, Dickinson HG. 1991. Microspore-derived embiyos in Brassica the significance of division symmetry in pollen mitosis 1 to embryogenic development. Sexual Plant Reproduction 4 48 - 55. 

Friis, E. M., Pedersen, K. R. and Crane, P. R. (2006). Cretaceous angiosperm flowers innovation and evolution in plant reproduction. Palaeography, Palaeoclimate, Palaeoecology, 232, 251-293. 

Pharis RP, Evans LT, King RW, Mander LN (1989) In Lord E, Bernier G (eds) Plant reproduction from floral induction to pollination. Am Soc Plant Physiol Symp Ser 1 29... 

Chitin and chitosan have potential in agricultural applications because of their ability to increase crop yields. The presence of chitosan appears to enhance plant reproduction (42), and coating seeds with chitin/chitosan activates the secretion of plant chitinases into the environment providing extra protection from harmful pests. 

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