Abstract

NUNEZ, Cecilia I.  and  AMICO, Guillermo C.. Carbon acquisition in green fruits of Tristerix corymbosus (Loranthaceae). Bol. Soc. Argent. Bot. [online]. 2011, vol.46, n.1-2, pp.125-130. ISSN 1851-2372.

In some species fruits are green when they are ripe. This can be attributed to the ability to acquire carbon via photosynthesis, which reduces reproductive costs and increases nutritional reward for seed dispersers. The color of mature fruits of the mistletoe Tristerix corymbosus (Loranthaceae) differ between biomes. In the Chilean matorral ripe fruits are yellow while in the temperate forest are green. Our objective was to determine whether or not fruits photosynthesize and if this ability varied with maturity stage and biome. We performed physiological measurements in plants from populations of each contrasting biome. Fruits did not denote carbon acquisition, regardless the biome or maturity stage. Leaves showed photosynthetic activity, they are amphistomatic, but fruits lacked stomata. These results prove false the hypothesis that the green color at maturity is associated to the ability to acquire carbon via photosynthesis, allowing to persevere in inquiring alternative hypotheses to explain fruit color variation in T. corymbosus.

Keywords : Chilean matorral; Color variation; Temperate forest of South America; Stoma.

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