Seed Abortion, Fruit Abortion

1. PROXIMATE CAUSES OF SEED AND FRUIT
ABORTION
Presented by
Pushpa Jharia
Ph.D Scholar
Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics
JNKVV, Jabalpur (MP)
Course no.PP-608
Seed Physiology

2. ABORTION (PLANTS)
Premature termination of the development
of pollen, gametes, embryos, seeds, fruits,
flowers etc.

3. SEED AND FRUIT ABORTION
Seed abortion in fis-class mutants results from
a failure in both endosperm and embryo
development. This is apparently at the
expense of endosperm development , which
shows a reduced number of peripheral nuclei,
but a greater amount of nuclei in the chalazal
endosperm(1).

4. Seed and fruit abortion in plants have been
traditionally attributed to limiting factors such
as resources or to chemically mediated
dominance hierarchy among the developing
sinks(2).

5. Seed Abortion in Soybean

6. In nutshell

7. Fruit Abortion in Winter Squash

8. Elstar' tree

9. VARIATION WITHIN AND AMONG SPECIES
Species that regularly abscise a large portion of
their flowers and immature fruits are remarkably
diverse in their taxonomy and ecology. They include
both gymnosperm and angiosperms. They occur in
a wide range of latitudes and habitats under both
cultivated and natural conditions.

10. CAUSES OF SEED ABORTION
Pollinated flowers, Seed and fruits can abort
selectively. It could be because(3)
• Number of developing seeds
• Pollen source
• Insufficient light
• Order of pollination

11. •Unsuitable photo-period
•High temperature
•Nutrient deficiency
•Drought stress

12. CAUSES OF FRUIT
ABORTION
1. Internal factor
a. Competition between the organs of plants
 Competition between the vegetative and generative organs
 Competition between the generative organs
b. Seed content of fruits
c. Condition of pollination and fertilization
d. Physical and hormonal bases

13. CAUSES OF FRUIT ABORTION
2. External Factor
a. Biotic factors
 Diseases
b. Climatic conditions and Meteorological conditions
c. Phytotechnical interventions
 Irrigation , water supply
 Nutrition
 Harvest

14. REMEDIES OF SEED AND FRUIT
ABORTION
Pollination
PGR(Plant Growth Regulators)
Mineral nutrient(INM)
IPM
IDM

15. CONCLUDING REMARKS
 The abortion of seed, flower and fruits is selective, it depends
on the species , pollinated flowers, type of seed and immature
fruits may selectively abort on the basis of the number of
developing seed, order of pollination, pollen source, or some
combination of these.
 Surplus flower and fruit production may provide plants with a
choice of offspring to mature.

16. CONCLUDING REMARKS
The production of surplus flowers and their
subsequent abscission appears to provide plants with
some degree of control over the number and quality of
their offspring.
Timing of fruit abortion minimize the amount
of resources wasted by abscission and
conserves many resources for the remaining fruits and
other growth process.

17. REFERENCES
1. Celia Baroux, ueli grossniklaus, in Advances in genetics 2002.
2. K.N. Ganeshaiah ,R. Uma shanker, Seed and fruit abortion as a process of
self organization among developing sinks physiologia plantarum, volume
91,issue 1.
3. Stephenson, AG(1981),Flower and fruit abortion: Proximate causes and ultimate
function, Annual Review of ecology and systematics 12(1):253-279
4. Abbott,D.L. 1960.the bourse shoot as a factor in the growth of apple
fruits.Ann.Appl.Biol.48:435-38
5. Detjen,D.1980.Insect seed predation and the reproductive ecology of witch-hazel,
PhD thesis. Univ. Michigan, Ann Ar-bor.92PP.

18. Thanks