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Annals of Botany 63: 19-28, 1989
© 1989 Annals of Botany Company

OTHER

The Pattern of Abortion of Developing Seeds in Lolium perenne L.

C. MARSHALL and D. LUDLAM

School of Plant Biology, University College of North Wales Bangor, Cwynedd LL57 2UW, UK

Communication presented at a symposium Advances in Seed Biology at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (14–15 April 1988), organized by J.B.Dickie, H. W. Pritchard and R. J. Probert

Accepted: 17 August 1988   

The pattern of seed abortion was followed in each floret of four centrally positioned spikelets in inflorescences of L. perenne from field plots given zero ( –F) or 150 kg N h–1 ( + F). There was severe lodging prior to anthesis in the +F plots and control inflorescences were compared with those held in an erect position and with others reduced to four central spikelets. In the - F plots there was only very limited lodging and erect control inflorescences were compared with those reduced to four central spikelets. Observations were made over a 3-week period and the pattern of seed abortion was very similar in all of the treatments. Approximately half of the developing seeds in each spikelet were lost by abortion and there was a similar degree of loss from all florets. The number of abortions increased greatly with time and approx. one-third were of ovaries and two-thirds were of seeds at a very early stage of development (1–2 mm in length and without chlorophyll formation). The effect of nitrogen fertilizer was to increase both the number of florets per spikelet and the mean weight per seed. The results are discussed in terms of the availability of resources to sustain seed development and growth; it is concluded that the high degree of abortion may be due to genetic defects associated with outbreeding rather than with a shortage of nutritional factors


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