Skip Navigation



JXB Advance Access published online on November 1, 2007
Journal of Experimental Botany, doi:10.1093/jxb/erm232
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
58/14/3865    most recent
erm232v1
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 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 arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Cota-Sánchez, J. H.
Right arrow Articles by Abreu, D. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Cota-Sánchez, J. H.
Right arrow Articles by Abreu, D. D.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Cota-Sánchez, J. H.
Right arrow Articles by Abreu, D. D.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author [2007]. Published by Oxford University Press [on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology]. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

RESEARCH PAPER

Vivipary and offspring survival in the epiphytic cactus Epiphyllum phyllanthus (Cactaceae)

J. Hugo Cota-Sánchez1,* and Deusa D. Abreu2

1University of Saskatchewan, Department of Biology, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E2, Canada
2Universidade de São Paulo, Departamento de Botânica, São Paulo, Brazil

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: hugo.cota{at}usask.ca

Vivipary, the germination of seeds before they are shed from the parent plant, is a rare event in angiosperms involving complex ecophysiological processes. Pseudovivipary and cryptovivipary occur in approximately 30 (2%) species of the cactus family. A remarkable case of vivipary in Epiphyllum phyllanthus is described here. Information is provided regarding the biology of viviparous fruits, morphology, mortality, survival rates of viviparous offspring, and some eco-evolutionary implications of this reproductive strategy in the Cactaceae. This epiphytic cactus has no host-specific relationship. A low proportion (33.3%) of individuals produced viviparous fruits. Seed number/fruit varied from 197 to 230 with percentage of viviparous germination from 97.5% to 99%. The viviparous seedlings exhibited normal development and were no different from non-viviparous offspring. Transplanting experiments showed that the first week is critical for seedling establishment, and high mortality occurred in the three treatments used: 69% on the phorophyte surface, 58.6% on the ground, and 44.8% under controlled conditions. The number of survivors gradually stabilized, and the contribution to establishment was comparable in each of the treatments after the acclimation phase. It is suggested that vivipary is associated with thermoregulation, parental care, conspecific nursing, and rapid seedling establishment. Germination is not a limiting factor in the perpetuation of this viviparous species, but seedling establishment is. In viviparous individuals of E. phyllanthus, seedling mortality during establishment rather than failure to germinate within the fruit is a limiting factor affecting local population density. Overall, viviparity is an intrinsic, genetic event involving high metabolic costs favouring germination and dispersal of the fittest offspring regardless of substrate and environmental conditions.

Key words: Cactaceae, dispersal, Epiphyllum phyllanthus, epiphyte, nursing effect, precocious germination, seedling establishment, vivipary

Received 5 June 2007; Revised 14 August 2007 Accepted 28 August 2007


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




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.