Surprising absence of association between flower surface microstructure and pollination system.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Kraaij M
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7064994 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:BackgroundBrood pollination mutualism is a special type of plant-pollinator interaction in which adult insects pollinate plants, and the plants provide breeding sites for the insects as a reward. To manifest such a mutualism between Stellera chamaejasme and flower thrips of Frankliniella intonsa, the study tested the mutualistic association of the thrips life cycle with the plant flowering phenology and determined the pollination effectiveness of adult thrips and their relative contribution to the host's fitness by experimental pollinator manipulation.ResultsThe adult thrips of F. intonsa, along with some long-tongue Lepidoptera, could serve as efficient pollinators of the host S. chamaejasme. The thrips preferentially foraged half-flowering inflorescences of the plants and oviposited in floral tubes. The floral longevity was 11.8 ± 0.55 (mean ± se) days, which might precisely accommodate the thrips life cycle from spawning to prepupation. The exclusion of adult thrips from foraging flowers led to a significant decrease in the fitness (i.e., seed set) of host plants, with a corresponding reduction in thrips fecundity (i.e., larva no.) in the flowers.ConclusionsThe thrips of F. intonsa and the host S. chamaejasme mutualistically interact to contribute to each other's fitness such that the thrips pollinate host plants and, as a reward, the plants provide the insects with brooding sites and food, indicating the coevolution of the thrips life cycle and the reproductive traits (e.g., floral longevity and morphology) of S. chamaejasme.
| S-EPMC8628443 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Bread wheat is strongly autogamous; however, an opportunity for outcrossing occurs when self-pollination fails and florets open. The first phase of floret opening at anthesis is short and induced by lodicule turgidity. Some wheat florets re-open post-anthesis for several days, known as the 'second opening', for which the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. We performed detailed physiological, anatomical, and histological investigations to understand the biological basis of the flower opening process. Wheat florets were observed open when the ovary was unfertilized. Unfertilized ovaries significantly increased in radial size post-anthesis, pushing the lemma and palea apart to open the florets. The absence of fertile pollen was not directly linked to this, but anther filament elongation coincided with initiation of ovary swelling. The pericarp of unfertilized ovaries did not undergo degeneration as normally seen in developing grains, instead pericarp cells remained intact and enlarged, leading to increased ovary radial size. This is a novel role for the ovary pericarp in wheat flower opening, and the knowledge is useful for facilitating cross-pollination in hybrid breeding. Ovary swelling may represent a survival mechanism in autogamous cereals such as wheat and barley, ensuring seed set in the absence of self-fertilization and increasing genetic diversity through cross-pollination.
| S-EPMC5853862 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Relationships between flowers and pollinators are generally considered cases of mutualism since both agents gain benefits. Fine-tuned adaptations are usually found in the form of strict one-to-one coevolution between species. Many insect pollinators are, however, considered generalists, visiting numerous kinds of flowers, and many flower species (angiosperms) are also considered generalists, visited by many insect pollinators. We here describe a fine-tuned coevolutionary state of a flower-visiting bee that collects both nectar and pollen from an early spring flower visited by multiple pollinators. Detailed morphology of the bee proboscis is shown to be finely adjusted to the floral morphology and nectar production of the flower. Behavioral observations also confirm the precision of this mutualism. Our results suggest that a fine-tuned one-to-one coevolutionary state between a flower species and a pollinator species might be common, but frequently overlooked, in multiple flower-pollinator interactions.
| S-EPMC3913927 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Angle dependent colors, such as iridescence, are produced by structures present on flower petals changing their visual appearance. These colors have been proposed to act as signals for plant-insect communication. However, there is a paucity of behavioral data to allow for interpretations of how to classify these colors either as a signal or a cue when considering the natural conditions under which pollination occurs. We sampled flowers from 6 plant species across various viewpoints looking for changes in the visual appearance of the petals. Spectral characteristics were measured with different instruments to simulate both the spectral and spatial characteristics of honeybee's vision. We show the presence of color patches produced by angle dependent effects on the petals and the calyx of various species; however, the appearance of the angle dependent color patches significantly varies with viewpoint and would only be resolved by the insect eye at close distances. Behavior experiments with honeybees revealed that pollinators did not use angle dependent colors to drive behavior when presented with novel flower presentations. Results show that angle dependent colors do not comply with the requirements of a signal for plant-pollinator communication since the information transmitted by these colors would be unreliable for potential, free-flying pollination vectors. We thus classify angle dependent colors produced by micro- and ultra-structures as being a cue (a feature which has not evolved for communication), and observe no evidence supporting claims of these angle dependent colors having evolved as visual signal.
| S-EPMC6688579 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background and aimsComplex modifications of angiosperm flowers often function for precise pollen placement on pollinators and to promote cross-pollination. We explore the functional significance of the unusually elaborate morphology of Gloriosa superba flowers, which are divided into one hermaphrodite meranthium and five male meranthia (functional pollination units of a single flower).MethodsWe used controlled pollination experiments, floral measurements, pollen load analyses and visitor observations in four populations of G. superba in South Africa to determine the breeding system, mechanism of pollination and role of flower in the promotion of cross-pollination.Key resultsWe established that G. superba is self-compatible, but reliant on pollinators for seed production. Butterflies, in particular the pierid Eronia cleodora, were the primary pollinators (>90 % of visitors). Butterflies brush against the anthers and stigma during nectar feeding and pollen is carried on their ventral wing surfaces. Butterfly scales were positively correlated with the number of pollen grains on stigmas. We demonstrate that the styles were orientated towards clearings in the vegetation and we confirm that the highest proportion of initial visits was to hermaphrodite meranthia pointing towards clearings.ConclusionsThe flower morphology of G. superba results in effective pollen transfer on the wings of butterfly visitors. The style-bearing hermaphrodite meranthium of the flowers orientates towards open spaces in the vegetation, thus increasing the probability that butterflies land first on the hermaphrodite meranthium. This novel aspect of flower orientation is interpreted as a mechanism that promotes cross-pollination.
| S-EPMC7262471 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe adaptive maintenance of flower color variation is frequently attributed to pollinators partly because they preferentially visit certain flower phenotypes. We tested whether Gentiana lutea-which shows a flower color variation (from orange to yellow) in the Cantabrian Mountains range (north of Spain)-is locally adapted to the pollinator community.MethodsWe transplanted orange-flowering individuals to a population with yellow-flowering individuals and vice versa, in order to assess whether there is a pollination advantage in the local morph by comparing its visitation rate with the foreign morph.ResultsOur reciprocal transplant experiment did not show clear local morph advantage in overall visitation rate: local orange flowers received more visits than foreign yellow flowers in the orange population, while both local and foreign flowers received the same visits in the yellow population; thus, there is no evidence of local adaptation in Gentiana lutea to the pollinator assemblage. However, some floral visitor groups (such as Bombus pratorum, B. soroensis ancaricus and B. lapidarius decipiens) consistently preferred the local morph to the foreign morph whereas others (such as Bombus terrestris) consistently preferred the foreign morph.DiscussionWe concluded that there is no evidence of local adaptation to the pollinator community in each of the two G. lutea populations studied. The consequences for local adaptation to pollinator on G. lutea flower color would depend on the variation along the Cantabrian Mountains range in morph frequency and pollinator community composition.
| S-EPMC5299997 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background and aimsChina is one of the centres of geographical distribution of Impatiens L. Studies of the pollination ecology of this genus in China have, until now, been unreported. Impatiens reptans, a species endemic to China, was studied. The aims were to examine the pollination ecology and pollination system of this species, to compare its pollination ecology with other Impatiens species growing in Sumatra and Japan, and to discuss possible reasons for its limited distribution.MethodsThe pollination ecology of I. reptans was studied by carrying out continuous observations within three naturally growing populations. Its pollination system was studied using different pollination methods, marking and counting pollen grains, assessing pollen viability and observing pollinator behaviour.Key resultsThe flowering phase of the protandrous I. reptans lasted for 89 d. The life span of an individual flower was 3.6 d. Primary pollinators were honey-bees and bumble-bees. Secondary pollinators were diurnal hawk moths and butterflies. Bombus briviceps and Bombus sp. were nectar gatherers. The mean nectar sugar concentration was 29.5 %, and the mean value of sucrose/glucose + fructose was 0.82. The proportion of seed set ranged from 0.857 to 0.873. Distances that seeds were ejected ranged from 0.58 to 1.17 m. Percentage seed germination under controlled conditions was 23.1. Pollen viability was highest on the day of anthesis and thereafter decreased. Ratios of pollen : ovules ranged from 958.8 to 970.6.ConclusionsImpatiens reptans reproduces by means of cross-pollination. Its dependence on a specialized habitat, a narrow environmental niche, a low percentage of seed germination, and habitat loss could be reasons for its limited distribution and endemism.
| S-EPMC4241072 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The matching of scents with music is both one of the most natural (or intuitive) of crossmodal correspondences and, at the same time, one of the least frequently explored combinations of senses in an entertainment and multisensory experiential design context. This narrative review highlights the various occasions over the last century or two when scents and sounds have coincided, and the various motivations behind those who have chosen to bring these senses together: This has included everything from the masking of malodour to the matching of the semantic meaning or arousal potential of the two senses, through to the longstanding and recently-reemerging interest in the crossmodal correspondences (now that they have been distinguished from the superficially similar phenomenon of synaesthesia, with which they were previously often confused). As such, there exist a number of ways in which these two senses can be incorporated into meaningful multisensory experiences that can potentially resonate with the public. Having explored the deliberate combination of scent and music (or sound) in everything from "scent-sory" marketing through to fragrant discos and olfactory storytelling, I end by summarizing some of the opportunities around translating such unusual multisensory experiences from the public to the private sphere. This will likely be via the widespread dissemination of sensory apps that promise to convert (or translate) from one sense (likely scent) to another (e.g., music), as has, for example already started to occur in the world of music selections to match the flavour of specific wines.
| S-EPMC8474342 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Study objectivesTo assess the association between psychotropic medications and sleep microstructure in large community-based cohorts of older people.MethodsWe analyzed overnight polysomnograms of 381 women from the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF) and 2,657 men from the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men Sleep Study (MrOS), who either used no psychotropic medication (n = 2,819), only benzodiazepines (n = 112), or only selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) (n = 107). Sleep microstructure (cyclic alternating pattern, CAP) was compared between the no medication group and psychotropic medication groups using the Mann-Whitney U test. Significant differences were investigated using multivariable linear regression adjusted for confounders.ResultsCAP rate, arousal index, apnea-hypopnea index, and the frequency of slow, low-amplitude electroencephalography activation phases were significantly lower in MrOS participants using benzodiazepines than participants not taking psychotropic medication. SSRI users in MrOS experienced no altered sleep microstructure compared to those with no psychotropic use. SOF participants using benzodiazepines did not show similar associations with sleep microstructure. However, SSRI users from SOF had a significantly higher frequency of rapid, high-amplitude electroencephalography activation phases (A2 + 3) and periodic limb-movement index than participants not taking psychotropic medication. Multivariable linear regression adjusted for demographic, lifestyle, mood disorders, and health variables indicated additional significant associations between benzodiazepine usage and CAP rate and A2 + 3 index, respectively, in older men, and between CAP rate and SSRI usage in older women.ConclusionsWe identified significant associations between sleep microstructure and psychotropic drugs in MrOS and SOF, highlighting the importance of comprehensive sleep analysis, including CAP. Our results may improve understanding of the differences in sleep-wake mechanisms based on psychotropic usage.Clinical trial registrationRegistry: ClinicalTrials.gov; Title: Outcomes of Sleep Disorders in Older Men; Identifier: NCT00070681; URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/record/NCT00070681.CitationHartmann S, Parrino L, Ensrud K, et al. Association between psychotropic medication and sleep microstructure: evidence from large population studies. J Clin Sleep Med. 2023;19(3):581-589.
| S-EPMC9978436 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Flower signals of bee- and bird-pollinated plants have converged via pollinator-mediated evolution, driven by the visual system of their respective pollinators. For bird flowers, sensory exclusion of less effective bees is also important and such exclusion is also mediated by floral morphological filters. Likewise, other systems based on pollination by red-sensitive insects are also associated with red flowers displaying lower short-wavelength secondary peaks of reflectance, which decreases detectability to animals that are less sensitive to red, such as bees. These flowers often also present long tubes. Here, we tested a generalization of the bee-avoidance hypothesis in order to assess if it holds only for bird flowers or for other non-bee pollination systems as well. For this, we compared flower contrasts and spectral purity in bee visual systems as proxies for conspicuousness among four kinds of pollination systems: bee-visited flowers, insect-visited flowers (including bees and other insects), non-bee insect flowers (flowers visited by red-sensitive insects such as flies, butterflies and beetles, but not bees), and bird-visited flowers. We also assessed the association between conspicuousness to bees and flower depth, used as a proxy for morphological exclusion of bees. Overall, flower conspicuousness to bees differed only between insect (all three groups) and bird flowers, due to lower visual signals for the latter. This suggests that bee sensory exclusion via color signals is exclusive to bird flowers, while non-bee insect flowers might use other sensory channels to exclude bees, such as olfactory signals. Visual bee avoidance might be a mechanism exclusive to plants pollinated by specific guilds of red-sensitive insects not well represented in our sample. We also found a negative association between flower conspicuousness to bees and flower depth, suggesting an interplay of morphological and spectral traits in discouraging bee visits. Our results support the bee-avoidance hypothesis exclusively for bird flowers and an overall association between lower visual signals to bees and long tubes.
| S-EPMC7542005 | biostudies-literature