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The development of seedlings from fragments of monoembryonic seeds as an important survival strategy for Eugenia (Myrtaceae) tree species

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Abstract

The uncommon ability of monoembryonic seeds of Eugenia to develop seedlings after cutting or even after the removal of more than half of their storage tissue has recently been reported. Some Eugenia species are included among those at risk of disappearing, so the regeneration of plantlets from fragments of seeds could be an important mechanism both for the production of more than one normal seedling per seed and to understand the survival strategies of these species. Because the period in which this ability is present has not been studied, we analyzed the regenerative capacity of seeds of five Brazilian native species of Eugenia, considering two levels of maturity and three germination phases. Mature seeds have a greater potential to regenerate than immature ones; germinating seeds showed that the longer the root protrusion, the smaller the potential to regenerate new seedlings. However, our results clearly demonstrate that the ability to regenerate new roots or complete seedlings is present during a long period from the beginning of development until the late phases of germination. Cutting is potentially important to obtain plants on a larger scale. Because of intense predation of these seeds, this ability could be linked to an essential strategy for survival even after the removal of more than half of the storage tissues. As an alternative strategy to orthodox seeds, whose preservation is based on tolerance to desiccation, the recalcitrant seeds of Eugenia probably adopted the great reserve quantity and the regenerative capacity, allowing them to undergo successive germinations.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Debora M. Molizane for technical assistance with pictures and figures, Danilo C. Centeno for reviewing the manuscript and Silvia R. Machado for assistance with language review. Financial support for this work and a fellowship for CJ Barbedo from the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico—CNPq (Proc. 481484/2007-8, 308045/2007-6 and 477640/2009-5) and the Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa no Estado de São Paulo—FAPESP (Proc. 2002/12215-7 and 2005/04139-7) are gratefully acknowledged. We also thank the Secretaria da Educação do Estado de São Paulo for a scholarship for the first author and the Programa de Pós-Graduação em Botânica—Instituto de Biociências/UNESP for the post-graduation course.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Botânica, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista “Julio de Mesquita Filho”, CP 510, Botucatu, SP, CEP 18618-000, Brazil

    Carmen C. Teixeira

  2. EE Heloisa Assumpção, Secretaria da Educação, Osasco, SP, CEP 06192-010, Brazil

    Carmen C. Teixeira

  3. Núcleo de Pesquisa em Sementes, Instituto de Botânica, CP 3005, Sao Paulo, SP, CEP 01061-970, Brazil

    Claudio J. Barbedo

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  1. Carmen C. Teixeira
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  2. Claudio J. Barbedo
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Correspondence to Claudio J. Barbedo.

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Communicated by M. Buckeridge.

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Teixeira, C.C., Barbedo, C.J. The development of seedlings from fragments of monoembryonic seeds as an important survival strategy for Eugenia (Myrtaceae) tree species. Trees 26, 1069–1077 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-011-0648-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-011-0648-5

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