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Survival of Schismus arabicus seedlings exposed to desiccation depends on annual periodicity

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Abstract

Schismus arabicus, a desert annual grass, is one of the most common pasture annuals in the deserts of Israel and Asia. S. arabicus exhibits a unique set of adaptations and survival strategies, which enable it to germinate, develop and produce seeds even in years with annual rainfall of less than 100 mm. The current study examined whether an annual rhythm exists in the survival ability of S. arabicus seedlings exposed to desiccation. Our results indicate that survival of S. arabicus seedlings after six different periods of 7 to 42 days of desiccation depended on the month of germination of the caryopses (seeds). Seed germination was 80–100% in all experiments, regardless the month of germination; however, seedlings that germinated in different months varied in their root and shoot elongation rates. None of about 2,500 seedlings that germinated in July (in each of the 4 years) survived the desiccation treatment. The percentages of surviving seedlings in each month of June from 2002 to 2005 were less than 40%. In contrast, over 80% of the seedlings that germinated in each of the months of December and January survived after the desiccation periods of 7–42 days. Seedlings that survived were transferred to 5 L soil pots in which the seedlings developed into mature plants, completed their life cycle and produced seeds that germinated well. The current study demonstrated a novel phenomenon indicating that seedling survival in plants may depend on an annual periodicity according to the date of germination.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Frieda Gilmour and Shlomo Feingold for their technical assistance, and Profs. Carol and Jerry Baskin from the Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, for their comments. This study is part of the Ph.D. thesis of Tanya Gendler who thanks the Israeli Ministry of Absorption and the Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research for supporting her living expenses during her studies. The study was partially supported by the EU IRG FP7 and by the Sonnenfeldt-Goldman Cathedra for Desert Research.

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  1. Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boker Campus, 84990, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel

    Yitzchak Gutterman, Tanya Gendler & Shimon Rachmilevitch

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  1. Yitzchak Gutterman
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  2. Tanya Gendler
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  3. Shimon Rachmilevitch
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Correspondence to Shimon Rachmilevitch.

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Gutterman, Y., Gendler, T. & Rachmilevitch, S. Survival of Schismus arabicus seedlings exposed to desiccation depends on annual periodicity. Planta 231, 1475–1482 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-010-1124-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-010-1124-y

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