Frequency distribution of seed number per fruit in plants: a consequence of self organizing process?

Abstract

Plants exhibit wide variation in the frequency distribution of seed number per fruit. These distributions have been explained on the basis of proximate factors such as limitation of pollen and resource, lethal alleles, and developmental abnormalities. However, such explanations are inadequate and are not parsimonious in explaining the wide range of distributions of seed number per fruit. In this paper we propose an alternative model based on the process of self-organization, involving simple rules of resource flow into ovules. We show that the wide range of observed frequency distributions of seed number per fruit can be generated as a function of resource-drawing ability of ovules, which interact stochastically during their development.