An economy of scale may lead to selection to increase interannual variation in seed production when the per seed probability of seedling establishment increases with seed production. Variable annual seedfall will, however, reduce this probability when postdispersal seed fate is negatively density dependent on the local density of seeds, and seed dispersal and density dependence act identically ...

The sustainability of seed extraction from natural populations has been questioned recently. Increased recruitment failure under intense seed harvesting suggests that seed extraction intensifies source limitation. Nevertheless, areas where more seeds are collected tend to also have more intense hunting of seed-dispersing animals. We studied whether such hunting, by limiting disperser activity, ...

Although the importance of plant-associated microorganisms for plant growth and health was getting more recognition recently, the role of seed-associated microorganisms, and especially seed endophytic bacteria, still is underestimated. Nevertheless, these associations could be beneficial for germination and seedling establishment as seed endophytic bacteria are already present in these very ear...

BACKGROUND During typical microRNA (miRNA) biogenesis, one strand of a approximately 22 nt RNA duplex is preferentially selected for entry into a silencing complex, whereas the other strand, known as the passenger strand or miRNA* strand, is degraded. Recently, some miRNA* sequences were reported as guide miRNAs with abundant expression. Here, we intended to discover evolutionary implication of...

Weed communities in agronomic fields are dominated by annual species. Summer annuals initiate growth each spring from seeds found in the upper soil profile (Figure 1). In most fields, a small percentage of the emerging plants survive and contribute new seeds to the soil seedbank. Historically, most research of the annual weed life cycle has focused on seed dormancy and emergence (A), effect of ...

Double fertilization of the female gametophyte produces the endosperm and the embryo enclosed in the maternal seed coat. Proper seed communication necessitates exchanges of signals between the zygotic and maternal components of the seed. However, the nature of these interactions remains largely unknown. We show that double fertilization of the Arabidopsis thaliana female gametophyte rapidly tri...

Gene flow of transgenes into non-target populations is an important biosafety concern. The case of genetically modified (GM) maize in Mexico has been of particular interest because of the country's status as center of origin and landrace diversity. In contrast to maize in the U.S. and Europe, Mexican landraces form part of an evolving metapopulation in which new genes are subject to evolutionar...

The recent development of genetically modified sugarcane, with the aim of commercial production, requires an understanding of the potential risks of increased weediness of sugarcane as a result of spread and persistence of volunteer sugarcane. As sugarcane is propagated vegetatively from pieces of stalk and the seed plays no part in the production cycle, the fate of seed in the environment is y...