Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
  1. Home
  2. Search

Refine search

Refine search

Access:
Content type:
Publication date:
Apply   From and To filters
Subject: Show more
Journals Show more
Publishers: Show more
Societies Show more
Series: Show more
Collections: Show more

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
Cancel
×

1 results

  • Effect of selective abortion on seed germination and post-germination performance of offspring

  • Jerry M. Baskin, Carol C. Baskin
  • Journal:
    Seed Science Research / Volume 29 / Issue 3 / September 2019
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    09 October 2019, pp. 210-214

  • Hermaphroditic angiosperms, especially outcrossers, generally produce many more flowers and ovules than they can mature into fruits and seeds. One of the several hypotheses to account for the production of ‘excess’ flowers is selective abortion, which has been shown to increase offspring quality in plants. Our primary aim was to review the literature on the effects of selective abortion on seed germination and post-germination offspring vigour. Of 14 case studies (11 species in 10 genera and four families of flowering plants), germination percentage or rate (speed) increased in six and did not increase in eight, whereas post-germination offspring performance increased in 11 and did not increase in three. In six of the eight cases in which germination was not increased, seedling/juvenile vigour was increased. Seed mass was less likely to influence seed germination than seedling/juvenile vigour. Although selective abortion has been shown to increase progeny vigour of the early life history stages of plants, neither its demographic nor evolutionary importance has been demonstrated.