Fruit fracture biomechanics and the release of Lepidium didymum pericarp-imposed mechanical dormancy by fungi

Katja Sperber, Tina Steinbrecher, Kai Graeber, Gwydion Scherer, Simon Clausing, Nils Wiegand, James E. Hourston, Rainer Kurre, Gerhard Leubner-Metzger () and Klaus Mummenhoff ()
Additional contact information
Katja Sperber: University of Osnabrück
Tina Steinbrecher: Royal Holloway University of London, Egham
Kai Graeber: Royal Holloway University of London, Egham
Gwydion Scherer: University of Osnabrück
Simon Clausing: University of Osnabrück
Nils Wiegand: University of Osnabrück
James E. Hourston: Royal Holloway University of London, Egham
Rainer Kurre: Center for Advanced Light Microscopy, University of Osnabrück
Gerhard Leubner-Metzger: Royal Holloway University of London, Egham
Klaus Mummenhoff: University of Osnabrück

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract The biomechanical and ecophysiological properties of plant seed/fruit structures are fundamental to survival in distinct environments. Dispersal of fruits with hard pericarps (fruit coats) encasing seeds has evolved many times independently within taxa that have seed dispersal as their default strategy. The mechanisms by which the constraint of a hard pericarp determines germination timing in response to the environment are currently unknown. Here, we show that the hard pericarp of Lepidium didymum controls germination solely by a biomechanical mechanism. Mechanical dormancy is conferred by preventing full phase-II water uptake of the encased non-dormant seed. The lignified endocarp has biomechanically and morphologically distinct regions that serve as predetermined breaking zones. This pericarp-imposed mechanical dormancy is released by the activity of common fungi, which weaken these zones by degrading non-lignified pericarp cells. We propose that the hard pericarp with this biomechanical mechanism contributed to the global distribution of this species in distinct environments.

Date: 2017
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-02051-9 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-017-02051-9

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-02051-9

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().