This article is part of a series of brief commentaries to highlight papers that have resulted in important and distinctly new perspectives in crop science. A criterion for selection of papers is that they must have been published at least 20 yr ago to allow for a long‐range perspective in assessment of the papers. The current article briefly reviews the paper by M. Wayne Adams published in 1967 that provided original insights about compensation in the components of seed number and seed yield in determining crop yield. Adams reviewed experimental results in a large number of crop species and discovered a consistent negative correlation between seed number and mean seed mass. He labeled this negative correlation as “component compensation” in the formation of yield. He hypothesized that component compensation resulted from limiting nutrient‐metabolite availability to support developing reproductive structures. Ultimately, the retained seeds would be filled to the extent allowed by the supply of nutrient‐metabolites so that there was compensation between seed number and individual seed mass.

中文翻译：

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韦恩·亚当斯（M. Wayne Adams），作物科学（1967）7，505–510，“作物植物中产量成分补偿的基础，特别是关于菜豆，菜豆”

本文是一系列简短评论的一部分，重点介绍了在作物科学领域产生了重要且截然不同的新观点的论文。选择论文的标准是，它们必须至少在20年前出版，以便从长远角度评估论文。当前文章简要回顾了M. Wayne Adams于1967年发表的论文，该论文对确定种子产量中种子数量和种子产量成分的补偿提供了独到的见解。亚当斯（Adams）审查了许多作物物种的实验结果，发现种子数量与平均种子质量之间存在一致的负相关性。他称这种负相关为收益形成中的“成分补偿”。他假设成分补偿是由于限制营养代谢物的供应以支持生殖结构的发育而造成的。最终，保留的种子将被填充到营养代谢物供应所允许的范围内，从而在种子数量和单个种子质量之间进行补偿。