Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Jennifer Blake-Mahmud, Biology
Document Type
Poster
Event Date
4-12-2024
Abstract
In a small number of species, plant sex expression is an environmentally determined characteristic and can change throughout the organism’s lifetime. This plastic response to environmental changes has important and intrinsically interesting ecological and evolutionary implications, but is as yet an understudied phenomenon. In particular, little is known about the proximate hormonal cues that mediate plastic sex determination. This study examines the impact of selective hormonal treatment on sex expression in a sexually plastic tree species, Acer Pensylvaticum, with the aim of further elucidating this idiosyncratic process. Live A. pensylvanicum twig samples were taken from five trees in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park, and these samples were introduced to either a hormone-containing or controlled water source; changes in sex were observed through floral expression. A. pensylvanicum is of interest as it changes sex yearly based on environmental experience via unknown hormonal pathways. If branch samples are treated with growth hormone, then the sex ratio in those branches will be altered compared to the control, because that growth hormone plays a determining role in A. pensylvanicum's sex expression. Among plants, hormone production and response are quite species specific. Understanding how hormones impact sex ratio in A. pensylvanicum, or any species, can provide valuable insight into the physiology and persistence of the species.
Recommended Citation
Repository citation: Hickok, Jillian; Kalkman, Colin; LaPorte, Michael; Mir, Arsh; and Weaver, Samantha, "Environment and Sexual Expression: Hormone-induced Sex Change in Sexually Plastic Trees" (2024). 23rd Annual A. Paul and Carol C. Schaap Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2024). Paper 46.
https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/curca_23/46
April 12, 2024. Copyright © 2024 Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
Comments
The work was supported by the Hope College Biology Department and by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2217891.