Abstract
During maize production, drought throughout the flowering stage usually induces seed abortion and yield losses. The influence of postpollination drought stress on seed abortion and its underlying mechanisms are not well characterized. By intervening in the competition for assimilates between kernel siblings under different degrees of postpollination drought stresses accompanied by synchronous pollination (SP) and incomplete pollination (ICP) approaches, the mechanisms of postpollination abortion were investigated at physiological and molecular levels. Upon SP treatment, up to 15% of the fertilized apical kernels were aborted in the drought-exacerbated competition for assimilates. The aborted kernels exhibited weak sucrose hydrolysis and starch synthesis but promoted the synthesis of trehalose-6-phosphate and ethylene. In ICP where basal pollination was prevented, apical kernel growth was restored with reinstated sucrose metabolism and starch synthesis and promoted sucrose and hexose levels under drought stress. In addition, the equilibrium between ethylene and polyamine in response to the drought and pollination treatments was associated with the abortion process. We conclude that competition for assimilates drives postpollination kernel abortion, whereas differences in sugar metabolism and the equilibrium between ethylene and polyamines may be relevant to the "live or die" choice of kernel siblings during this competition.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record, shown for indexing and research. Copyright remains with the authors or the publisher. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
Synchronous pollination under drought led to abortion of up to 15% of fertilized apical kernels.
Zea maysNot reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Upon SP treatment, up to 15% of the fertilized apical kernels were aborted in the drought-exacerbated competition for assimilates”
t0“maize”
Claim · model-written summary
Aborted kernels showed weak sucrose hydrolysis and starch synthesis.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The aborted kernels exhibited weak sucrose hydrolysis and starch synthesis”
t0“maize”
Claim · model-written summary
Aborted kernels promoted trehalose-6-phosphate and ethylene synthesis.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“promoted the synthesis of trehalose-6-phosphate and ethylene”
t0“maize”
Claim · model-written summary
Preventing basal pollination restored apical kernel growth under drought.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“In ICP where basal pollination was prevented, apical kernel growth was restored with reinstated sucrose metabolism and starch synthesis and promoted sucrose and hexose levels under drought stress”
t0“maize”
Claim · model-written summary
Preventing basal pollination reinstated sucrose metabolism and starch synthesis under drought.
- Treatment
- basal pollination was preventede0
- Outcome
- sucrose metabolism and starch synthesise0
- Direction
- reinstatede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“In ICP where basal pollination was prevented, apical kernel growth was restored with reinstated sucrose metabolism and starch synthesis and promoted sucrose and hexose levels under drought stress”
t0“maize”
Claim · model-written summary
Preventing basal pollination promoted sucrose and hexose levels under drought.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“In ICP where basal pollination was prevented, apical kernel growth was restored with reinstated sucrose metabolism and starch synthesis and promoted sucrose and hexose levels under drought stress”
t0“maize”
Claim · model-written summary
Ethylene and polyamine equilibrium was associated with kernel abortion.
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the equilibrium between ethylene and polyamine in response to the drought and pollination treatments was associated with the abortion process”
t0“maize”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors concluded that competition for assimilates drives postpollination kernel abortion.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“competition for assimilates drives postpollination kernel abortion”
t0“maize”
The same questions in other papers
pollination · growth · Zea mays (maize)Positive and negative results
2 papers in the same direction as this paper · 5 in the opposite direction
- negative
- no effect
- negative
4 papers more in this group
See all 8 papers →pollination · quality: sugar starch · Zea mays (maize)Results agree
2 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
pollination · molecular: metabolites · Zea mays (maize)Results agree
2 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.