Abstract Detail

Developmental and Structural Section

Smith-Huerta, Nancy L. [1], Huerta, Alfredo J. [2].

Shoot apex fasciation in the wildflower Clarkia tembloriensis under growth chamber conditions.

Shoot apex fasciation is a widespread yet rare growth abnormality in plants. It is characterized by a flattened shoot apical meristem and shortened internodes. Plants of the California wildflower Clarkia tembloriensis do not normally express shoot apex fasciation in nature. However, we have found that when grown under plant growth chamber conditions, plants from one population (Crocker Canyon) express fasciation. Since drought and lack of nutrient availability may lessen the expression of fasciation in annual plants under natural conditions, we hypothesize that these environmental growth conditions may account for the differences in the expression of fasciation between wild and growth chamber-grown plants. To test our hypothesis, we grew plants from the Crocker Canyon population to flowering in a plant growth chamber. Plants were grown in 4 L pots with either 4 plants or 12 plants per pot and all pots were watered at the same time once every two to three days. The soil from pots with 12 plants dried much more quickly than soil from pots with 4 plants. Plants grown at 12 per pot did not express shoot apical fasciation, averaged 45 cm in height and produced significantly fewer flowers than plants grown at 4 per pot which averaged 80 cm in height and did express shoot apical fasciation. It has been reported previously that greater water and nutrient availability increases the expression of shoot apex fasciation in other plants. We hypothesize that our observations in Clarkia tembloriensis can be explained by differences between treatments since plants growing 4 per pot had greater water and nutrient availability than plants growing 12 per pot.

1 - Miami University, Department of Biology, Oxford, OH, 45056, USA
2 - Miami University, Biology, Oxford, OH, 45056, USA

Keywords:
fasciation
shoot apex
environmental conditions.

Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Sections
Session: P
Location: Hall D/The Shaw Conference Centre
Date: Monday, July 27th, 2015
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PDS003
Abstract ID:244
Candidate for Awards:None