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Restriction of sexual reproduction in the moss Racomitrium lanuginosum along an elevational gradient

1. Terrestrial plant populations located at the margins of species’ distributions often display reduced sexual reproduction and an increased reliance on asexual reproduction. One hypothesis to explain this phenomenon is that the decline is associated with environmental effects on the energetic costs...

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Autores principales: Maruo, Fumino, Imura, Satoshi
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7520195/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33005364
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6666
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author Maruo, Fumino
Imura, Satoshi
author_facet Maruo, Fumino
Imura, Satoshi
author_sort Maruo, Fumino
collection PubMed
description 1. Terrestrial plant populations located at the margins of species’ distributions often display reduced sexual reproduction and an increased reliance on asexual reproduction. One hypothesis to explain this phenomenon is that the decline is associated with environmental effects on the energetic costs to produce reproductive organs. 2. In order to clarify the changing processes of sexual reproduction along an elevational gradient, we investigated the sexual reproductive parameters, such as the number of sporophytes and gametangia, in Racomitrium lanuginosum, a dioicous moss found on Mt. Fuji. 3. Matured sporophytes were present only below 3,000 m, and the number of sporophytes per shoot tended to be lower at higher elevation habitats. The numbers of male inflorescences per shoot and antheridia per inflorescence and shoot significantly decreased with increasing elevation. In contrast, the numbers of female inflorescences per shoot and archegonia per inflorescence and shoot varied little across elevations. 4. Synthesis. Our results suggest that the reasons for this limitation are assumed to be limitations in sporophyte development that result in abortion, and the spatial segregation between males and females. Possible reasons for the abortion of sporophytes are the inhibitory effects of low air temperature, a shortened growth period, and winter environmental conditions at higher elevations. Remarkable differences between male and female on various reproductive parameters found in this study are thought to affect the mode of sexual reproduction under the harsh environment. These differences between males and females may be caused by differences in the costs of production and development of gametangia, sensitivity to environmental stressors, and phenological patterns.
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spelling pubmed-75201952020-09-30 Restriction of sexual reproduction in the moss Racomitrium lanuginosum along an elevational gradient Maruo, Fumino Imura, Satoshi Ecol Evol Original Research 1. Terrestrial plant populations located at the margins of species’ distributions often display reduced sexual reproduction and an increased reliance on asexual reproduction. One hypothesis to explain this phenomenon is that the decline is associated with environmental effects on the energetic costs to produce reproductive organs. 2. In order to clarify the changing processes of sexual reproduction along an elevational gradient, we investigated the sexual reproductive parameters, such as the number of sporophytes and gametangia, in Racomitrium lanuginosum, a dioicous moss found on Mt. Fuji. 3. Matured sporophytes were present only below 3,000 m, and the number of sporophytes per shoot tended to be lower at higher elevation habitats. The numbers of male inflorescences per shoot and antheridia per inflorescence and shoot significantly decreased with increasing elevation. In contrast, the numbers of female inflorescences per shoot and archegonia per inflorescence and shoot varied little across elevations. 4. Synthesis. Our results suggest that the reasons for this limitation are assumed to be limitations in sporophyte development that result in abortion, and the spatial segregation between males and females. Possible reasons for the abortion of sporophytes are the inhibitory effects of low air temperature, a shortened growth period, and winter environmental conditions at higher elevations. Remarkable differences between male and female on various reproductive parameters found in this study are thought to affect the mode of sexual reproduction under the harsh environment. These differences between males and females may be caused by differences in the costs of production and development of gametangia, sensitivity to environmental stressors, and phenological patterns. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2020-08-19 /pmc/articles/PMC7520195/ /pubmed/33005364 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6666 Text en © 2020 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Research
Maruo, Fumino
Imura, Satoshi
Restriction of sexual reproduction in the moss Racomitrium lanuginosum along an elevational gradient
title Restriction of sexual reproduction in the moss Racomitrium lanuginosum along an elevational gradient
title_full Restriction of sexual reproduction in the moss Racomitrium lanuginosum along an elevational gradient
title_fullStr Restriction of sexual reproduction in the moss Racomitrium lanuginosum along an elevational gradient
title_full_unstemmed Restriction of sexual reproduction in the moss Racomitrium lanuginosum along an elevational gradient
title_short Restriction of sexual reproduction in the moss Racomitrium lanuginosum along an elevational gradient
title_sort restriction of sexual reproduction in the moss racomitrium lanuginosum along an elevational gradient
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7520195/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33005364
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6666
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