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The objective of this study was to examine the response of geranium plants to different irrigation levels (100%, 80%, and 60% based on ET o ) and Kaolin application rates (0, 100, 200 and 300 ppm) during 2022 and 2023 seasons, at Aly Mobarak Experimental Farm, Horticulture Research Station, located at El-Bustan site, El-Behiera Governorate, Egypt, by using a two-way factorial analysis experimental design. The results revealed that water deficit significantly reduced most studied traits. Irrigation level at 60% based on ET o exhibited poorest performance on growth parameters and decreased fresh yield and essential oil yield by 27.77% 10.73%, respectively as compared with full irrigated plants. However, foliar application of kaolin at 200 and 300 ppm led to increasing biomass accumulation by 28.51, 26.16%, and essential oil yield by 79.51, 89.95%, respectively, as compared with untreated plants grown under the same level of water deficit (60% based on ET o ). GC-MS analysis of essential oil showed that water deficit and kaolin application increased geraniol/citronellol ratio and consequently improved oil quality. Results highlight the positive influence of water deficit and kaolin rates on the development and performance of anatomical parameters. Enzymes assay in leaves revealed in an increase superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) activities, and decreased in catalase (CAT) activity under water deficit. As for WUE at 60%, followed by 80% based on ET o recorded excellent response for geranium plants which led to more water saving. So, it could be concluded that foliar application of kaolin at 200 and 300 ppm obtained the optimal characteristics of geranium plants under experimental conditions. In particular, essential oil yield and productivity., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Interactions between plant community members are an underexplored driver of angiosperm floral variation. We investigate character displacement as a potential contributor to floral variation in Pelargonium communities. Pelargoniums all place pollen on the ventral sides of their pollinators, potentially leading to interspecific pollen transfer (IPT) in sympatry. We show that the positions of pollen placement and receipt are determined by anther and style exsertion lengths. Using field experiments, we demonstrate that heterospecific species experience higher IPT if they have similar style lengths than when they have greater style length differences. Using crosses, we show that IPT has negative consequences on seed set. In combination, these results suggest that character displacement in style length is likely to reduce IPT and increase female fitness in sympatry. Patterns of style length variation across 29 different Pelargonium communities suggest that character displacement has occurred in multiple communities. Furthermore, analyses using a wide-ranging species pair show that style lengths are more different between sympatric populations than they are between allopatric populations. In addition to pollinators as agents of floral divergence, this study suggests that variation in Pelargonium community structure has driven style length variation through character displacement., (© 2019 The Authors. Evolution © 2019 The Society for the Study of Evolution.)

Premise of the Study: While tradeoffs among mechanical and conductive functions have been well investigated in woody stems, these tradeoffs are relatively unexplored in petioles, the structural link between stems and laminas. We investigated size-independent scaling relationships between cross-sectional areas of structural and vascular tissues, relationships between tissue areas of xylem and phloem, vessel packing within xylem, and scaling of vascular and structural tissues with lamina traits., Methods: We examined allometric relationships among petiole tissues and as a function of lamina and petiole size variation on eleven species of Pelargonium. From transverse sections of methacrylate-embedded tissue, we measured the cross-sectional areas of all tissues within the petiole and vessel lumen, and cell wall areas of each vessel. Allometric scaling relationships were analyzed using standardized major axis regressions., Key Results: Pelargonium petiole vessels were packed as predicted by Sperry's packing rule for woody stems. In contrast to woody stems, there was no evidence of a tradeoff between vessel area and fiber area. Within cross-sections, more xylem was produced than phloem. Among bundles, xylem and phloem scaling relationships varied with bundle position. Except for lamina dry mass and petiole fiber cross-sectional area, petiole and lamina traits were independent., Conclusions: Petioles share vascular tissue traits with stems despite derivation from leaf primordia. We did not find evidence for a tradeoff between structural and vascular tissues, in part because fibers occur outside the xylem. We propose this separation of conduction and support underlies observed developmental and evolutionary plasticity in petioles., (© 2018 Botanical Society of America.)

The major objective of this investigation was to evaluate the potential of scented geraniums, Pelargonium roseum, to uptake and accumulate heavy metals nickel (Ni), cadmium (Cd), or lead (Pb). For this, plants were grown in an artificial soil system and exposed to a range of metal concentrations over a 14-day treatment period. Then, metals from the entire biomass were extracted. The results showed that scented geranium plants accumulated in excess of 20,055 mg of Ni kg(-1) dry weight (DW) of root and 10,889 mg of Ni kg(-1) DW of shoot, and in excess of 86,566 mg of Pb kg(-1) DW for roots and 4,416 mg of Pb kg(-1) DW for shoots within 14 days. Also, the uptake and accumulation of cadmium in roots of scented geranium plants increased with the exposure at low (250, 500 mg L(-1)) and medium level (750 mg L(-1)) followed by a decline at the highest level (1,000 mg L(-1)). The highest accumulation in roots (31,267 mg kg(-1) DW) was observed in 750 mg L(-1) cadmium treatment. In the shoots of scented geraniums, the highest amount of metal accumulation (1,957 mg kg(-1) DW) was detected at 750 and 1,000 mg L(-1) of cadmium in the culture solution. Finally, since the high concentrations of Ni or Pb accumulated in shoots of scented geranium has far exceeded 0.1 % DW and for Cd has far exceeded 0.01 % DW, P. roseum is a new hyperaccumulator species for these metals and can be used in phytoremediation industry.

Premise of the Study: Trait integration may improve prediction of species and lineage responses to future climate change more than individual traits alone, particularly when analyses incorporate effects of phylogenetic relationships. The South African genus Pelargonium contains divergent major clades that have radiated along the same seasonal aridity gradient, presenting the opportunity to ask whether patterns of evolution in mean leaf trait values are achieved through the same set of coordinated changes among traits in each clade., Methods: Seven leaf traits were measured on field-collected leaves from one-third of the species (98) of the genus. Trait relationships were examined using phylogenetic regression within major clades. Disparity analysis determined whether the course of trait evolution paralleled historical climate change events., Key Results: Divergence in mean trait values between sister clades A1 and A2 was consistent with expectations for leaves differing in longevity, despite strong similarity between clades in trait interactions. No traits in either clade exhibited significant relationships with multivariate climate axes, with one exception. Species in clades C and A2 included in this study occupied similar environments. These clades had similar values of individual trait means, except for δ(13)C, but they exhibited distinctive patterns of trait integration., Conclusions: Differing present-day patterns of trait integration are consistent with interpretations of adaptive responses to the prevailing climate at the time of each clade's origin. These differing patterns of integration are likely to exert strong effects on clade-level responses to future climate change in the winter rainfall region of South Africa.

Background: Pelargonium is one of the most popular garden plants in the world. Moreover, it has a considerable economic importance in the ornamental plant market. Conventional cross-breeding strategies have generated a range of cultivars with excellent traits. However, gene transfer via Agrobacterium tumefaciens could be a helpful tool to further improve Pelargonium by enabling the introduction of new genes/traits. We report a simple and reliable protocol for the genetic transformation of Pelargonium spp. and the production of engineered long-life and male sterile Pelargonium zonale plants, using the pSAG12::ipt and PsEND1::barnase chimaeric genes respectively., Results: The pSAG12::ipt transgenic plants showed delayed leaf senescence, increased branching and reduced internodal length, as compared to control plants. Leaves and flowers of the pSAG12::ipt plants were reduced in size and displayed a more intense coloration. In the transgenic lines carrying the PsEND1::barnase construct no pollen grains were observed in the modified anther structures, which developed instead of normal anthers. The locules of sterile anthers collapsed 3-4 days prior to floral anthesis and, in most cases, the undeveloped anther tissues underwent necrosis., Conclusion: The chimaeric construct pSAG12::ipt can be useful in Pelargonium spp. to delay the senescence process and to modify plant architecture. In addition, the use of engineered male sterile plants would be especially useful to produce environmentally friendly transgenic plants carrying new traits by preventing gene flow between the genetically modified ornamentals and related plant species. These characteristics could be of interest, from a commercial point of view, both for pelargonium producers and consumers.

Reproductive isolation can evolve either as a by-product of divergent selection or through reinforcement. We used the Cape flora of South Africa, known for its high level of pollination specialization, as a model system to test the potential role of shifts in pollination system in the speciation process. Comparative analysis of 41 sister-species pairs (representing Geraniaceae, Iridaceae, and Orchidaceae) for which complete pollinator, edaphic, and distribution data are available showed that for sister species with overlapping distribution ranges, pollination system shifts are significantly associated with edaphic shifts. In contrast, there is no significant association between pollination system shifts and edaphic shifts for allopatric sister species. These results are interpreted as evidence for reinforcement.

Background and Aims: The aim of this study was to determine the role of nitrogen- and storage-affected carbohydrate availability in rooting of pelargonium cuttings, focusing on the environmental conditions of stock plant cultivation at low latitudes, transport of cuttings, and rooting under the low light that prevails during the winter rooting period in Central European greenhouses., Methods: Carbohydrate partitioning in high-light-adapted cuttings of the cultivar 'Isabell' was studied in relation to survival and adventitious root formation under low light. Effects of a graduated supply of mineral nitrogen to stock plants and of cutting storage were examined., Key Results: Nitrogen deficiency raised starch levels in excised cuttings, whereas the concentrations of glucose and total sugars in leaves and the basal stem were positively correlated with internal total nitrogen (Nt). Storage reduced starch to trace levels in all leaves, but sugar levels were only reduced in tissues of non-nitrogen deficient cuttings. Sugars accumulated in the leaf lamina of stored cuttings during the rooting period, whereas carbohydrates were simultaneously exhausted in all other cutting parts including the petioles, thereby promoting leaf senescence. The positive correlation between initial Nt and root number disappeared after storage. Irrespectively of storage, higher pre-rooting leaf glucose promoted subsequent sugar accumulation in the basal stem and final root number. The positive relationships between initial sugar levels in the stems with cutting survival and in leaves with root formation under low light were confirmed in a sample survey with 21 cultivars provided from different sources at low latitudes., Conclusions: The results indicate that adventitious rooting of pelargonium cuttings can be limited by the initial amount of nitrogen reserves. However, this relationship reveals only small plasticity and is superimposed by a predominant effect of carbohydrate availability that depends on the initial leaf sugar levels, when high-light adaptation and low current light conditions impair net carbon assimilation.