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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 56(5)

Short Communication. Some wild bamboo clumps contain more than one genet

Donald C. Franklin A D , Shingo Kaneko B , Nozomi Yamasaki C and Yuji Isagi B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School for Environmental Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT 0909, Australia.

B Laboratory of Forest Biology, Division of Forest and Biomaterials Science, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa Oiwake-cho, Sakyo-ku Kyoto 606-8502, Japan.

C Graduate School of Integrated Arts and Sciences, Hiroshima University, Kagamiyama 1-7-1, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8521, Japan.

D Corresponding author. Email: don.franklin@cdu.edu.au

Australian Journal of Botany 56(5) 433-436 https://doi.org/10.1071/BT08026
Submitted: 13 February 2008  Accepted: 17 June 2008   Published: 24 July 2008

Abstract

In clumping clonal plants, the often discrete nature of clumps may be enhanced by competition among genets. We examined the genetic composition of clumps of Bambusa arnhemica F.Muell., a bamboo from northern Australia, by analysis of microsatellites. Three of ten clumps were demonstrably multiclonal, containing a minimum of two, four and five genets, respectively. This raises intriguing questions about the development of clumps and suggests that intergenet competition may at times be overwhelmed by the benefits of coloniality in B. arnhemica.


Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Parks & Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory, the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture of Japan, the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, and the 21st Century Center of Excellence Program at Hiroshima University. David Bowman commented helpfully on a manuscript draft.


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