Skip Navigation


JXB Advance Access originally published online on June 18, 2003
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
54/389/1931    most recent
erg192v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (3)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ninkovic, V.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Ninkovic, V.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Ninkovic, V.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol. 54, No. 389, pp. 1931-1939, August 1, 2003
© 2003 Oxford University Press

Volatile communication between barley plants affects biomass allocation

Received 15 July 2002; Accepted 15 April 2003

Velemir Ninkovic*,

Department of Entomology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7044, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden

* Fax: +46 18 67 28 90. E-mail: Velemir.Ninkovic{at}entom.slu.se

Patterns of biomass allocation between different plant organs have often been used to explain the response of plants to variations in resource availability. This paper reports how aerial allelopathy (plant–plant communication) affects biomass allocation, that is the trade-off between root, stem and leaves, and also relative growth rate (RGR, increase in biomass per unit biomass per unit of time, mg g–1 d–1) and its components. Based on previous experiments, communication between two barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivars (Alva and Kara) was used for the present study. Kara exposed to volatiles from Alva allocated significantly more biomass to roots compared with Kara exposed to volatiles from Kara or to clean air. There was no significant difference between plants of Kara exposed to volatiles from Kara and those exposed to clean air. Changes in total dry weight (TDW), RGR and unit leaf rate (ULR, increase in biomass per unit time and leaf area, kg m–2 d–1) were not significantly affected by plant–plant communication. However, there was a significant increase in specific leaf area (SLA, leaf area per leaf dry weight, m2 kg–1) in Kara when exposed to volatiles from Alva. The results show that aerial plant–plant communication does not affect total biomass production but does significantly affect biomass allocation in individual plants. There may be differences in the volatile profiles of Kara and Alva that induce increased biomass allocation to roots in the Kara plants exposed to volatiles from Alva.

Key words: Aerial allelopathy, mass fractions, relative growth rate, specific leaf area, unit leaf ratio.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 ScienceHome page
I. T. Baldwin, R. Halitschke, A. Paschold, C. C. von Dahl, and C. A. Preston
Volatile Signaling in Plant-Plant Interactions: "Talking Trees" in the Genomics Era
Science, February 10, 2006; 311(5762): 812 - 815.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.