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Reproductive biology of Plukenetia corniculata Sm. (Euphorbiaceae), a traditional wild vegetable in Southeast Asia

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Abstract

Plukenetia corniculata Sm. is a traditional wild vegetable in Southeast Asia. However, its wild resources are becoming rare due to habitat destruction. To conserve and utilize P. corniculata resources, the knowledge of its reproductive biology is essential. In this study, the flowering and fruiting phenology, floral characteristics, breeding system, and seed characteristics of P. corniculata were systematically investigated. The results revealed that P. corniculata only needed approximately 5 months from sowing to fruit ripening. On average, the anthesis of a single pistillate flower, a staminate flower, and an inflorescence lasted approximately 10.50 days, 9.44 h, and 26.57 days, respectively. The stigma receptivity reached its peak on the sixth day after stigma dehiscence, while the pollen viability reached a maximum (73.58%) at the fourth hour after the staminate flower blooming. The estimated values of pollen-ovule ratio and outcrossing index, as well as the results of the artificial pollination experiments, suggested the breeding system of P. corniculata was classified as facultative xenogamy with self-compatibility. Additionally, the high kernel percentage (70.67%) and kernel oil ratio (58.65%) in P. corniculata seeds indicated its potential value for breeding. This study not only provides novel information on reproductive characteristics and optimal timing for artificial pollination of P. corniculata but also serves as a valuable reference for research on the reproductive biology of other Plukenetia species.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Mr. Xiaoyang Yang for assistance in collecting the germplasm of P. corniculata. The authors gratefully acknowledge the Central Laboratory of the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden for providing the research facilities.

Funding

This work was supported by grants from the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Precision Seed Design and Breeding, XDA24030502), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32071739), and the ‘Yunnan Revitalization Talent Support Program’ in Yunnan Province (YNWR-QNBJ-2020-172). The funding provided financial support, but had no role in the experimental design, data collection and analysis, or preparation of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Plant Resources and Sustainable Use, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, 666303, Yunnan, China

    Cheng Feng, Yue Zhu, Qimei Su, Xiang Zhou, Weiyue Chen, Yan-Bin Tao, Maosheng Chen, Huiying He, Bang-Zhen Pan, Zeng-Fu Xu & Qiantang Fu

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Weiyue Chen

  3. State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, College of Forestry, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, Guangxi, China

    Zeng-Fu Xu

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  1. Cheng Feng
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  2. Yue Zhu
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  3. Qimei Su
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  4. Xiang Zhou
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Contributions

QF, ZFX, and CF conceived and designed the experiments. CF, YZ, QS, XZ performed the experiments and analyzed the data. WC, MSC, and HH participated to analyze the data. QF and CF wrote the manuscript. ZFX, YBT, and BZP revised the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Zeng-Fu Xu or Qiantang Fu.

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Feng, C., Zhu, Y., Su, Q. et al. Reproductive biology of Plukenetia corniculata Sm. (Euphorbiaceae), a traditional wild vegetable in Southeast Asia. Genet Resour Crop Evol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-024-01967-8

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