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Fruit Development in Trillium1
Dependence on Stem Carbohydrate Reserves

Line Lapointe*

Département de Biologie, Université Laval, Ste-Foy, Québec, Canada G1K 7P4

Leaves are the main source of carbon for fruit maturation in most species. However, in plants seeing contrasting light conditions such as some spring plants, carbon fixed during the spring could be used to support fruit development in the summer, when photosynthetic rates are low. We monitored carbohydrate content in the rhizome (a perennating organ) and the aboveground stem of trillium (Trillium erectum) over the entire growing season (May-November). At the beginning of the fruiting stage, stems carrying a developing fruit were harvested, their leaves were removed, and the leafless stems were maintained in aqueous solution under controlled conditions up to full fruit maturation. These experiments showed that stem carbohydrate content was sufficient to support fruit development in the absence of leaves and rhizome. This is the first reported case, to our knowledge, of complete fruit development sustained only by a temporary carbohydrate reservoir. This carbohydrate accumulation in the stem during the spring enables the plant to make better use of the high irradiances occurring at that time. Many other species might establish short-term carbohydrate reservoirs in response to seasonal changes in growing conditions.

1   This work was supported by a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
*   E-mail line.lapointe{at}bio.ulaval.ca; fax 1-418-656-2043.

Plant Physiol. (1998) 117: 183-188
Copyright Clearance Center:   0032-0889/98/117/0183/06
© 1998 American Society of Plant Physiologists




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Copyright © 1998 by the American Society of Plant Biologists