Effect of heterospecific pollen deposition on pollen tube growth depends on the phylogenetic relatedness between donor and recipient

Abstract Co-flowering plant species may interact via pollinators leading to heterospecific pollen transfer with consequences for plant reproduction. What determines the severity of heterospecific pollen effect on conspecific pollen performance is unclear, but it may depend on the phylogenetic relatedness of the interactors (pollen donors and recipient). The heterospecific pollen effect might also depend on the extent to which plants are exposed to heterospecific pollen over ecological or evolutionary timescales. For instance, generalist-pollinated plant species might tolerate heterospecific pollen more than specialists. Here, we tested whether heterospecific pollen effects are stronger between closely related species than phylogenetically distant ones in a tropical highland community. Then, based on these results, we determined whether responses to heterospecific pollen were stronger in generalized vs. specialized plant species. We applied heterospecific pollen from close (congeneric) or distant (different families) donors alone or with conspecific pollen on stigmas of three recipient species (one generalist, Sisyrinchium wettsteinii; and two specialists, Fuchsia campos-portoi and Fuchsia regia) and scored pollen tube performance in styles. In all species, pollen from closely related donors grew pollen tubes to the base of the style indicating a high potential to interfere with seed set. Conversely, distantly related heterospecific pollen had no effect on either specialist Fuchsia species, whereas enhanced performance of conspecific pollen was observed in generalist S. wettsteinii. The strong effect of phylogenetic relatedness of donor and recipient might have obscured the role of pollination specialization, at least for the three species examined here. Therefore, phylogenetic relatedness mediated the effect of heterospecific pollen on post-pollination success, with possible consequences for reproductive trait evolution and community assembly for further studies to explore.

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Heterospecific pollen deposition among plants sharing hummingbird pollinators in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Rodriguésia ◽

10.1590/2175-7860201667205 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 67 (2) ◽

pp. 335-345 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Lorena Coutinho Nery da Fonseca ◽

André Rodrigo Rech ◽

Pedro Joaquim Bergamo ◽

Vania Gonçalves-Esteves ◽

Marlies Sazima

Keyword(s):

Plant Species ◽

Atlantic Forest ◽

Temporal Organization ◽

Pollen Deposition ◽

Brazilian Atlantic Forest ◽

Body Parts ◽

Heterospecific Pollen ◽

Negative Effect ◽

Pollen Mixture ◽

Heterospecific Pollen Deposition

Abstract Hummingbirds are the most important group of pollinating birds in the Neotropics and tend to use, concomitantly, more than one plant species as food source. Pollen may be mixed on hummingbirds' body due to the visits to different plant species; therefore, these birds may promote heterospecific pollen deposition (HPD). The hummingbirds potential to promote HPD, the occurrence of HPD and its implications in plant reproduction are scarcely known in the Atlantic Forest. We have studied the transport of pollen by three hummingbird species from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We have also checked the actual HPD occurrence under natural conditions in two plant species, namely Canistropsis seidelii and Psychotria nuda. Moreover, we investigated Nidularium innocentii reproductive system evaluating the effect of HPD on its reproduction by simulating a pollen mixture pollination. We found hummingbirds transporting heterospecific pollen mixtures on their bodies, which in turn were deposited onto stigmas of different species. We have also found that mixed pollen deposition had negative effect on the fitness of N. innocentii. We conclude that hummingbirds carry pollen mixtures at the same body parts, leading to potential HPD at the community level. Moreover, hummingbird-plant communities in the Atlantic Rainforest show remarkable similarities in temporal organization and interaction pattern. This suggests that HPD may be a widespread phenomena in these communities.

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Epimutations are associated with CHROMOMETHYLASE 3-induced de novo DNA methylation

eLife ◽

10.7554/elife.47891 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Jered M Wendte ◽

Yinwen Zhang ◽

Lexiang Ji ◽

Xiuling Shi ◽

Rashmi R Hazarika ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dna Methylation ◽

Plant Species ◽

Dna Methyltransferase ◽

Constitutive Heterochromatin ◽

De Novo ◽

Flowering Plant ◽

Gene Body ◽

Gene Body Methylation ◽

Mechanistic Basis ◽

Flowering Plant Species

In many plant species, a subset of transcribed genes are characterized by strictly CG-context DNA methylation, referred to as gene body methylation (gbM). The mechanisms that establish gbM are unclear, yet flowering plant species naturally without gbM lack the DNA methyltransferase, CMT3, which maintains CHG (H = A, C, or T) and not CG methylation at constitutive heterochromatin. Here, we identify the mechanistic basis for gbM establishment by expressing CMT3 in a species naturally lacking CMT3. CMT3 expression reconstituted gbM through a progression of de novo CHG methylation on expressed genes, followed by the accumulation of CG methylation that could be inherited even following loss of the CMT3 transgene. Thus, gbM likely originates from the simultaneous targeting of loci by pathways that promote euchromatin and heterochromatin, which primes genes for the formation of stably inherited epimutations in the form of CG DNA methylation.

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Heterospecific pollen deposition is positively associated with reproductive success in a diverse hummingbird‐pollinated plant community

Oikos ◽

10.1111/oik.08714 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Sabrina Aparecida Lopes ◽

Pedro Joaquim Bergamo ◽

Steffani Najara Pinho Queiroz ◽

Jeff Ollerton ◽

Thiago Santos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Reproductive Success ◽

Plant Community ◽

Pollen Deposition ◽

Heterospecific Pollen ◽

Heterospecific Pollen Deposition

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Toevoegings tot die blomplantlys van die Bergkwagga Nasionale Park

Koedoe ◽

10.4102/koedoe.v20i1.956 ◽

1977 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

B.L. Penzhorn

Keyword(s):

Plant Species ◽

National Park ◽

Flowering Plants ◽

Flowering Plant ◽

Check List ◽

Flowering Plant Species

Additions to the check list of flowering plants of the Mountain Zebra National Park. Thirteen additional flowering plant species are reported from the Mountain Zebra National Park, increasing the total reported to 371 species.

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Pollinator‐mediated interactions between cultivated papaya and co‐flowering plant species

Ecology and Evolution ◽

10.1002/ece3.4781 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 587-597

Author(s):

Raúl Badillo‐Montaño ◽

Armando Aguirre ◽

Miguel A. Munguía‐Rosas

Keyword(s):

Plant Species ◽

Flowering Plant ◽

Flowering Plant Species

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Floral preferences of a neotropical stingless bee, Melipona quadrifasciata Lepeletier (Apidae: Meliponina) in an urban forest fragment

Brazilian Journal of Biology ◽

10.1590/s1519-69842006000300012 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 66 (2a) ◽

pp. 463-471 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Y. Antonini ◽

R. G. Costa ◽

R. P. Martins

Keyword(s):

Plant Species ◽

Urban Forest ◽

Flowering Plant ◽

Forest Fragment ◽

High Similarity ◽

Paulo State ◽

Melipona Quadrifasciata ◽

Belo Horizonte ◽

Flowering Plant Species ◽

Bee Abundance

Species of plants used by Melipona quadrifasciata Lepeletier for pollen and nectar gathering in an urban forest fragment were recorded in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Melipona quadrifasciata visited 22 out of 103 flowering plant species. The plant species belonged mainly to Myrtaceae, Asteraceae, and Convolvulaceae (64% of the visits). Melipona quadrifasciata tended to collect pollen or nectar each time, except for Myrtaceae species, from which both pollen and nectar were collected. Bee abundance at flowers did not significantly correlate to food availability (expressed by flowering plant richness). We found a relatively high similarity (50%) between plant species used by M. quadrifasciata, which was also found in studies carried out in São Paulo State. However, low similarity (17%) was found between the results of this study and those of another done in Bahia State, Brazil.

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Coexistence induced by pollen limitation in flowering-plant species

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2000.1410 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 268 (1467) ◽

pp. 579-585 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Reiichiro Ishii ◽

Masahiko Masahiko

Keyword(s):

Plant Species ◽

Pollen Limitation ◽

Flowering Plant ◽

Flowering Plant Species

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Convergent evolution of caffeine in plants by co-option of exapted ancestral enzymes

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1602575113 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 113 (38) ◽

pp. 10613-10618 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

Ruiqi Huang ◽

Andrew J. O’Donnell ◽

Jessica J. Barboline ◽

Todd J. Barkman

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

Plant Defense ◽

Plant Species ◽

Convergent Evolution ◽

Flowering Plant ◽

Phylogenetic Relatedness ◽

Future Studies ◽

Biochemical Pathways ◽

Caffeine Synthase ◽

Caffeine Biosynthesis

Convergent evolution is a process that has occurred throughout the tree of life, but the historical genetic and biochemical context promoting the repeated independent origins of a trait is rarely understood. The well-known stimulant caffeine, and its xanthine alkaloid precursors, has evolved multiple times in flowering plant history for various roles in plant defense and pollination. We have shown that convergent caffeine production, surprisingly, has evolved by two previously unknown biochemical pathways in chocolate, citrus, and guaraná plants using either caffeine synthase- or xanthine methyltransferase-like enzymes. However, the pathway and enzyme lineage used by any given plant species is not predictable from phylogenetic relatedness alone. Ancestral sequence resurrection reveals that this convergence was facilitated by co-option of genes maintained over 100 million y for alternative biochemical roles. The ancient enzymes of the Citrus lineage were exapted for reactions currently used for various steps of caffeine biosynthesis and required very few mutations to acquire modern-day enzymatic characteristics, allowing for the evolution of a complete pathway. Future studies aimed at manipulating caffeine content of plants will require the use of different approaches given the metabolic and genetic diversity revealed by this study.

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