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Research Articles

Opposing effects of plant growth regulators via clonal integration on apical and basal performance in alligator weed

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  • 1 Key Laboratory of Modern Agricultural Equipment and Technology, Ministry of Education, School of Agricultural Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China, 2 Institute of Environment and Ecology, School of the Environment and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China, 3 School of Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Haidian, Beijing 100083, China, 4 University of Hartford, Department of Biology, West Hartford, CT 06117, USA, 5 Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Technology and Material of Water Treatment, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou 215009, Jiangsu Province, China

    Corresponding author. E-mail: daizhicong@163.com
    These authors contributed equally to this work.

Received date: 2021-01-03

  Revised date: 2021-03-05

  Accepted date: 2021-08-12

  Online published: 2021-08-27

Abstract

Invasive plants are a major threat to biodiversity and may adversely affect food security. Clonal integration enables the sharing of resources between connected ramets and can enhance plant performance in many invasive species. However, few studies have examined the role of clonal integration when weeds are exposed to plant growth regulators (PGRs). PGRs are used extensively in agriculture and may affect nearby weeds through soil leaching, erosion and runoff. Our aim was to investigate the effects of clonal integration on growth in a noxious weed, Alternanthera philoxeroides (alligator weed), in response to two PGRs frequently used in agriculture, gibberellins (GAs) and paclobutrazol (PAC). Ramets of A. philoxeroides were propagated in the greenhouse, and treated with PGRs. PGRs were applied to the older ramets (i.e. ‘basal’ part), with half of the plants having the stems between the apical (younger) and basal parts left connected, while the remaining plants had the stems between the two parts severed. Following the growing period, plants were measured for growth traits. We found that GA and PAC had contrasting effects on plant growth. GA significantly promoted above-ground growth of the apical ramets via clonal integration. Alternatively, PAC inhibited above-ground growth in the basal and apical parts, and enhanced below-ground growth of the basal and apical ramets through clonal integration. Our results highlight how clonal integration can promote growth in A. philoxeroides following the application of PGRs, which is likely an important mechanism for this species to invade new environments.

Cite this article

Shanshan Qi, Susan Rutherford, Furong He, Bi-Cheng Dong, Bin Zhu, Zhicong Dai, Weiguo Fu, Hanping Mao and Daolin Du . Opposing effects of plant growth regulators via clonal integration on apical and basal performance in alligator weed[J]. Journal of Plant Ecology, 2022 , 15(3) : 650 -662 . DOI: 10.1093/jpe/rtab098

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