Summary
We surveyed a population of Trifolium repens L. polymorphic for cyanogenesis to determine whether either of two biotic factors were concerned as selective forces affecting the balance between the cyanogenic and acyanogenic forms.
We found no difference between the distributions of cyanogenesis scores for uninfected leaves and for leaves infected by the fungus Cymadothea trifolii Wolf. Acyanogenic plants, however, were more heavily eaten than cyanogenic ones, the principle herbivores being the slugs Arion ater L. and Agriolimax reticulatus Müller. Selective eating of isolated plants in a herbaceous border was due both to more acyanogenic leaves being touched and to more being eaten per a cyanogenic leaf. For plants embedded in the lawn selective eating was due mainly to the latter cause.
Possible explanation for the differences in degree of selective eating between lawn plants and border plants and between this survey and choice experiments are discussed.
Article PDF
References
Angseesing, J P A. 1973. Selective eating of the acyanogenic form of Trifolium repens L. Heredity, in the press.
Bishop, J A, and Korn, M E. 1969. Natural selection and cyanogenesis in white clover, Trifolium repens. Heredity, 24, 423–430.
Corkill, L. 1952. Cyanogenesis in white clover (Trifolium repens L.). VI. Experiments with high-glucoside and glucoside-free strains. NZ J Sci Tech, 34, A, 1–16.
Crawford-Sidebotham, T J. 1970. Differential susceptibility of species of slugs to metalde-hyde/bran and to methiocarb baits. Oecologia, 5, 303–324.
Crawford-Sidebotham, T J. 1972. The role of slugs and snails in the maintenance of the cyanogenesis polymorphisms of Lotus corniculatus and Trifolium repens. Heredity, 28, 405–411.
Daday, H. 1954. Gene frequencies of wild populations of Trifolium repens L. I. Distribution by latitude. Heredity, 8, 61–78.
Daday, H. 1955. Cyanogenesis in strains of white clover (Trifolium repens L.). J Brit Grassland Soc, 10, 266–274.
Foulds, W, and Grime, J P. 1972. The response of cyanogenic and acyanogenic phenotypes of Trifolium repens to soil moisture supply. Heredity, 28, 181–187.
Hughes, M A. 1968. Studies on the β-glucosidase system of Trifolium repens. J Exp Bot, 19, 427–434.
Jones, D A. 1962. Selective eating of the acyanogenic form of the plant Lotus comiculatus L. by various animals. Nature, 193, 1109–1110.
Jones, D A. 1966. On the polymorphism of cyanogenesis in Lotus comiculatus L. I. Selection by animals. Canad J Genet Cytol, 8, 556–567.
Jones, D A. 1972. Cyanogenic clycosides and their function. In Phytochemical Ecology (ed. J. B. Harborne), pp. 103–124. Academic Press, London.
Jones, D A. 1973. Coevolution and cyanogenesis. Proc Symp Syst Assn, in press.
De Waal, D. 1942. Het Cyanophore Karakter van Witte Klaver, Trifolium repens L. Thesis, H. Veenman en Zonen N.V., Wageningen.
Whitman, R J. 1973. Herbivore feeding and cyanogenesis in Trifolium repens L. Heredity, in press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Angseesing, J., Angseesing, W. Field observations on the cyanogenesis polymorphism in Trifolium repens. Heredity 31, 276–282 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1973.84
Received:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1973.84
This article is cited by
-
Cyanogenesis in Turnera ulmifolia L. (Turneraceae). I. Phenotypic distribution and genetic variation for cyanogenesis on Jamaica
Heredity (1995)
-
Altitudinal clines for cyanogenesis in introduced populations of white clover near Vancouver, Canada
Heredity (1990)
-
Properties and functions of the cyanogenic system in higher plants
Euphytica (1990)
-
Cyanogenic glucosides as defense compounds
Journal of Chemical Ecology (1988)
-
Selective grazing of acyanogenic white clover: Variation in behaviour among populations of the slug Deroceras reticulatum
Oecologia (1987)
