TY  - JOUR
AU  - Seymour, R.S.
AU  - Gibernau, M.
AU  - Pirintsos, S.A.
PY  - 2009//
TI  - Thermogenesis of three species of Arum from Crete
T2  - Plant Cell Environ.
JO  - Plant Cell and Environment
SP  - 1467
EP  - 1476
VL  - 32
IS  - 10
PB  - WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC
KW  - Araceae
KW  - arum lily
KW  - inflorescence
KW  - pollination
KW  - temperature regulation
N2  - Inflorescences of arum lilies have a three-part spadix with a scent-producing, sterile appendix above two bands of fertile male and female florets. The appendix and male florets are thermogenic, but with different temporal patterns. Heat-production was measured in Arum concinnatum, A. creticum and A. idaeum. The male florets of A. concinnatum showed a 3 d continuous episode of thermogenesis with three waves, and the appendix warmed in a single, 6 h episode. Maximum fresh-mass-specific CO2 production rate was 0.17 μmol s(-1) g(-1) to achieve a 10.9 degrees C temperature elevation by the appendix, and 0.92 μmol s(-1) g(-1) to achieve a 4.8 degrees C elevation by male florets. Reversible, physiological temperature regulation was not evident in either tissue. Respiration increased with tissue temperatures with Q(10) values of 1.8-3.9, rather than less than 1.0 as occurs in thermoregulatory flowers. Experimental step changes in temperature of appendix and male floret tissues also failed to show thermoregulatory responses. The patterns of thermogenesis therefore appear to be fixed by the temporal sequence of blooming. Thermogenesis in the alpine species, A. creticum and A. idaeum, was significantly lower than in the lowland A. concinnatum, possibly related to difficulty in raising floral temperature in their cold and windy habitat.
SN  - 0140-7791
N1  - ISI:000269592300016
ID  - Seymour_etal2009
ER  -