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Updated: Mar 6, 2026

Reliable Method for Assessing Seed Germination, Dormancy, and Mortality under Field Conditions
Published on: November 6, 2016
Paternal and maternal effects on propagule size in Anthoxanthum odoratum
Janis Antonovics1, Johanna Schmitt2
1Botany Department, Duke University, 27706, Durham, NC, USA.
Abstract:
Propagules (caryopsis plus glumes) from a diallel cross among eight genotypes of Anthoxanthum odoratum were weighed to asses the relative contribution of nuclear, reciprocal, and environmental effects to propagule size. Maternal reciprocal effects were large whereas zygotic nuclear effects were small, although consitently present. There were no interactions between maternal reciprocal and nuclear effects. Environmental effects were large, including environmentally induced maternal effects and within individual variance. These results suggest that response to selection for seed size as a result of sib-competition will be weak, and that seed size differences are relatively unimportant for the maintenance of sexual reproduction in natural populations.
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