scholarly journals Structure and contingency determine mutational hotspots for flower color evolution

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas C. Wheeler ◽  
Boswell A. Wing ◽  
Stacey D. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Flower Color ◽  
Color Evolution ◽  
Mutational Hotspots

scholarly journals Structure and contingency determine mutational hotspots for flower color evolution

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas C Wheeler ◽  
Boswell A Wing ◽  
Stacey D Smith
Keyword(s):  
Flower Color ◽  
Phenotypic Evolution ◽  
Historical Contingency ◽  
Genetic Studies ◽  
Color Evolution ◽  
Starting State ◽  
Mutational Hotspots ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Evolutionary Context ◽  
Evolutionary Trajectories

Evolutionary genetic studies have uncovered abundant evidence for genomic hotspots of phenotypic evolution, as well as biased patterns of mutations at those loci. However, the theoretical basis for this concentration of particular types of mutations at particular loci remains largely unexplored. In addition, historical contingency is known to play a major role in evolutionary trajectories, but has not been reconciled with the existence of such hotspots. For example, do the appearance of hotspots and the fixation of different types of mutations at those loci depend on the starting state and/or on the nature and direction of selection? Here we use a computational approach to examine these questions, focusing the anthocyanin pigmentation pathway, which has been extensively studied in the context of flower color transitions. We investigate two transitions that are common in nature, the transition from blue to purple pigmentation and from purple to red pigmentation. Both sets of simulated transitions occur with a small number of mutations at just four loci and show strikingly similar peaked shapes of evolutionary trajectories, with the mutations of largest effect occurring early but not first. Nevertheless, the types of mutations (biochemical vs. regulatory) as well as their direction and magnitude are contingent on the particular transition. These simulated color transitions largely mirror findings from natural flower color transitions, which are known to occur via repeated changes at a few hotspot loci. Still, some types of mutations observed in our simulated color evolution are rarely observed in nature, suggesting that pleiotropic effects further limit the trajectories between color phenotypes. Overall, our results indicate that the branching structure of the pathway leads to a predictable concentration of evolutionary change at hotspot loci, but the types of mutations at these loci and their order is contingent on the evolutionary context.

scholarly journals Flower Diversification Across “Pollinator Climates”: Sensory Aspects of Corolla Color Evolution in the Florally Diverse South American Genus Jaborosa (Solanaceae)

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcela Moré ◽  
Ana C. Ibañez ◽  
M. Eugenia Drewniak ◽  
Andrea A. Cocucci ◽  
Robert A. Raguso
Keyword(s):  
Visual Space ◽  
Flower Color ◽  
South American ◽  
Large White ◽  
Pollinator Abundance ◽  
Color Evolution ◽  
Floral Color ◽  
Ecological Changes ◽  
History Of ◽  
Pollination Mode

Flower phenotype may diverge within plant lineages when moving across “pollinator climates” (geographic differences in pollinator abundance or preference). Here we explored the potential importance of pollinators as drivers of floral color diversification in the nightshade genus Jaborosa, taking into account color perception capabilities of the actual pollinators (nocturnal hawkmoths vs. saprophilous flies) under a geographic perspective. We analyzed the association between transitions across environments and perceptual color axes using comparative methods. Our results revealed two major evolutionary themes in Jaborosa: (1) a “warm subtropical sphingophilous clade” composed of three hawkmoth-pollinated species found in humid lowland habitats, with large white flowers that clustered together in the visual space of a model hawkmoth (Manduca sexta) and a “cool-temperate brood-deceptive clade” composed of largely fly-pollinated species with small dark flowers found at high altitudes (Andes) or latitudes (Patagonian Steppe), that clustered together in the visual space of a model blowfly (Lucilia sp.) and a syrphid fly (Eristalis tenax). Our findings suggest that the ability of plants to colonize newly formed environments during Andean orogeny and the ecological changes that followed were concomitant with transitions in flower color as perceived by different pollinator functional groups. Our findings suggest that habitat and pollination mode are inextricably linked in the history of this South American plant lineage.

scholarly journals Transgenerational Plasticity in Flower Color Induced by Caterpillars

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mar Sobral ◽  
Isabelle P. Neylan ◽  
Eduardo Narbona ◽  
Rodolfo Dirzo
Keyword(s):  
Raphanus Sativus ◽  
Flower Color ◽  
Ecological Interactions ◽  
Chromatin Modifications ◽  
Wild Radish ◽  
Controlled Experiments ◽  
Transgenerational Effects ◽  
Plant Populations ◽  
Transgenerational Plasticity ◽  
Color Evolution

Variation in flower color due to transgenerational plasticity could stem directly from abiotic or biotic environmental conditions. Finding a link between biotic ecological interactions across generations and plasticity in flower color would indicate that transgenerational effects of ecological interactions, such as herbivory, might be involved in flower color evolution. We conducted controlled experiments across four generations of wild radish (Raphanus sativus, Brassicaceae) plants to explore whether flower color is influenced by herbivory, and to determine whether flower color is associated with transgenerational chromatin modifications. We found transgenerational effects of herbivory on flower color, partly related to chromatin modifications. Given the presence of herbivory in plant populations worldwide, our results are of broad significance and contribute to our understanding of flower color evolution.

scholarly journals Coloration of Flowers by Flavonoids and Consequences of pH Dependent Absorption

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doekele G. Stavenga ◽  
Hein L. Leertouwer ◽  
Bettina Dudek ◽  
Casper J. van der Kooi
Keyword(s):  
Absorption Spectra ◽  
Ph Dependence ◽  
Bathochromic Shift ◽  
Flower Color ◽  
Color Evolution ◽  
Dependent Absorption ◽  
Ph Dependent ◽  
Basic States ◽  
Pigment Absorption ◽  
Derivatives Of

Flavonoid pigments are key determinants of flower colors. As absorption spectra of flavonoids are known to be severely pH-dependent, cellular pH will play a crucial role in flower coloration. The flavonoids are concentrated in the vacuoles of the flowers’ epidermal cells, and thus the pigments’ absorption spectra are modulated by the vacuolar pH. Here we study the pH dependence of flavonoid absorption spectra in extracts from flowers of two poppy species Papaver dubium (red) and Meconopsis cambrica (orange), and a white and red Mandevilla sanderi variety. In the red poppy and Mandevilla flowers, absorption spectra of the cyanidin- and pelargonidin-based anthocyanins peak in the blue-green-wavelength range at low pH, but exhibit a distinct bathochromic shift at higher pH. This shift to longer wavelengths is not found for the blue-absorbing nudicaulin derivatives of M. cambrica, which have a similar absorption spectrum at low and high pH. The pH-dependent absorption changes of the white M. sanderi’s flavonoid remained restricted to the UV. An analysis of the spectra with logistic functions suggests that the pH-dependent characteristics of the basic states of flavonols and anthocyanins are related. The implications of tuning of pH and pigment absorption spectra for studies on flower color evolution are discussed.

scholarly journals Tempo and mode of flower color evolution

2015 ◽  
Vol 102 (7) ◽  
pp. 1014-1025 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacey D. Smith ◽  
Emma E. Goldberg
Keyword(s):  
Flower Color ◽  
Color Evolution

scholarly journals Flower Color Evolution and the Evidence of Pollinator-Mediated Selection

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Trunschke ◽  
Klaus Lunau ◽  
Graham H. Pyke ◽  
Zong-Xin Ren ◽  
Hong Wang
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Behavioral Responses ◽  
Flower Color ◽  
Color Variation ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Plant Populations ◽  
Pollinator Attraction ◽  
Color Evolution ◽  
Color Morphs ◽  
The One

The evolution of floral traits in animal-pollinated plants involves the interaction between flowers as signal senders and pollinators as signal receivers. Flower colors are very diverse, effect pollinator attraction and flower foraging behavior, and are hypothesized to be shaped through pollinator-mediated selection. However, most of our current understanding of flower color evolution arises from variation between discrete color morphs and completed color shifts accompanying pollinator shifts, while evidence for pollinator-mediated selection on continuous variation in flower colors within populations is still scarce. In this review, we summarize experiments quantifying selection on continuous flower color variation in natural plant populations in the context of pollinator interactions. We found that evidence for significant pollinator-mediated selection is surprisingly limited among existing studies. We propose several possible explanations related to the complexity in the interaction between the colors of flowers and the sensory and cognitive abilities of pollinators as well as pollinator behavioral responses, on the one hand, and the distribution of variation in color phenotypes and fitness, on the other hand. We emphasize currently persisting weaknesses in experimental procedures, and provide some suggestions for how to improve methodology. In conclusion, we encourage future research to bring together plant and animal scientists to jointly forward our understanding of the mechanisms and circumstances of pollinator-mediated selection on flower color.

Effect of Ultraviolet Rays on the Flower Color of Primula malacoides

1977 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ikuo KASHIWAGI ◽  
Yasuo KOBAYASHI ◽  
Tokiharu MATSUKAWA
Keyword(s):  
Flower Color ◽  
Ultraviolet Rays
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