Colourful cones: how did flower colour first evolve?

2019 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 759-767 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula J Rudall
Keyword(s):  
Colour Vision ◽  
Flower Colour ◽  
Flowering Plants ◽  
Seed Plants ◽  
Plant Tissues ◽  
Secondary Effect ◽  
Reproductive Structures ◽  
Seed Cone ◽  
Evolutionary Pathways ◽  
Flower Pigments

Abstract Angiosperms that are biotically pollinated typically produce flowers with bright and contrasting colours that help to attract pollinators and hence contribute to the reproductive success of the species. This colourful array contrasts with the much less multicoloured reproductive structures of the four living gymnosperm lineages, which are mostly wind pollinated, though cycads and Gnetales are predominantly pollinated by insects that feed on surface fluids from the pollination drops. This review examines the possible evolutionary pathways and cryptic clues for flower colour in both living and fossil seed plants. It investigates how the ancestral flowering plants could have overcome the inevitable trade-off that exists between attracting pollinators and minimizing herbivory, and explores the possible evolutionary and biological inferences from the colours that occur in some living gymnosperms. The red colours present in the seed-cone bracts of some living conifers result from accumulation of anthocyanin pigments; their likely primary function is to help protect the growing plant tissues under particular environmental conditions. Thus, the visual cue provided by colour in flower petals could have first evolved as a secondary effect, probably post-dating the evolution of bee colour vision but occurring before the subsequent functional accumulation of a range of different flower pigments.

scholarly journals EVOLUTION OF THE SEED PLANTS AND INCLUSIVE FITNESS OF PLANT TISSUES

Evolution ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 713-724 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Westoby ◽  
Barbara Rice
Keyword(s):  
Inclusive Fitness ◽  
Seed Plants ◽  
Plant Tissues

Checklist of ferns and seed plants of the Golden Gate Highlands National Park, South Africa

Bothalia ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. E. Daemane ◽  
B-E. Van Wyk ◽  
A. Moteetee
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
National Park ◽  
Flowering Plants ◽  
Seed Plants ◽  
Golden Gate ◽  
Infraspecific Taxa

A list of flowering plants and ferns has been compiled for the Golden Gate Highlands National Park, which occupies an area of 11 346 hectares but excludes the adjacent QwaQwa National Park. The checklist comprises 846 taxa (823 species and 23 infraspecific taxa) representing 359 genera in 101 families. Eleven of the species are recorded in the Red Data List (Raimondo et al. 2010) and 64 species are naturalized exotics.

scholarly journals Simultaneous parsimony jackknife analysis of 2538rbcL DNA sequences reveals support for major clades of green plants, land plants, seed plants and flowering plants

1998 ◽  
Vol 213 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 259-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mari K�llersj� ◽  
James S. Farris ◽  
Mark W. Chase ◽  
Birgitta Bremer ◽  
Michael F. Fay ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Flowering Plants ◽  
Land Plants ◽  
Seed Plants ◽  
Green Plants ◽  
Jackknife Analysis

scholarly journals The evolution of desiccation tolerance in angiosperm plants: a rare yet common phenomenon

2013 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald F. Gaff ◽  
Melvin Oliver
Keyword(s):  
Desiccation Tolerance ◽  
Seed Plants ◽  
Common Phenomenon ◽  
Vegetative Tissue ◽  
Vegetative Cells ◽  
Evolutionary Path ◽  
Reproductive Structures ◽  
Drought Avoidance ◽  
Angiosperm Species ◽  
Derivatives Of

In a minute proportion of angiosperm species, rehydrating foliage can revive from airdryness or even from equilibration with air of ~0% RH. Such desiccation tolerance is known from vegetative cells of some species of algae and of major groups close to the evolutionary path of the angiosperms. It is also found in the reproductive structures of some algae, moss spores and probably the aerial spores of other terrestrial cryptogamic taxa. The occurrence of desiccation tolerance in the seed plants is overwhelmingly in the aerial reproductive structures; the pollen and seed embryos. Spatially and temporally, pollen and embryos are close ontogenetic derivatives of the angiosperm microspores and megaspores respectively. This suggests that the desiccation tolerance of pollen and embryos derives from the desiccation tolerance of the spores of antecedent taxa and that the basic pollen/embryo mechanism of desiccation tolerance has eventually become expressed also in the vegetative tissue of certain angiosperm species whose drought avoidance is inadequate in micro-habitats that suffer extremely xeric episodes. The protective compounds and processes that contribute to desiccation tolerance in angiosperms are found in the modern groups related to the evolutionary path leading to the angiosperms and are also present in the algae and in the cyanobacteria. The mechanism of desiccation tolerance in the angiosperms thus appears to have its origins in algal ancestors and possibly in the endosymbiotic cyanobacteria-related progenitor of chloroplasts and the bacteria-related progenitor of mitochondria. The mechanism may involve the regulation and timing of the accumulation of protective compounds and of other contributing substances and processes.

scholarly journals New perspectives in nectar evolution and ecology: simple alimentary reward or a complex multiorganism interaction?

2017 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Massimo Nepi
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Vascular Plants ◽  
Amino Acid Content ◽  
Secondary Compounds ◽  
Indirect Defense ◽  
Plant Tissues ◽  
Plant Fitness ◽  
Reproductive Structures ◽  
Floral Nectaries ◽  
Plant Animal Interactions

Floral and extra-floral nectars are secretions elaborated by specific organs (nectaries) that can be associated with plant reproductive structures (the so-called floral nectaries found only in angiosperms) or vegetative parts (extrafloral nectaries). These secretions are common in terrestrial vascular plants, especially angiosperms. Although gymnosperms do not seem to have true nectar, their ovular secretions may share evolutionary links with angiosperm nectar. Nectar is generally involved in interactions with animals and by virtue of its sugar and amino acid content, it has been considered a reward offered by plants to animals in exchange for benefits, mainly pollination and indirect defense against herbivores. These relationships are often cited as examples of classical mutualistic interactions. Nonetheless, recent studies dealing with compounds less abundant than sugars and amino acids challenge this view and suggest that nectar is much more complex than simply a reward in the form of food. Nectar proteins (nectarins) and nectar secondary compounds have no primary nutritious function but are involved in plant–animal relationships in other ways. Nectarins protect against proliferation of microorganisms and infection of plant tissues by pathogens. Nectar secondary compounds can be involved in modulating the behavior of nectar feeders, maximizing benefits for the plant. Nectar-dwelling microorganisms (mainly yeasts) were recently revealed to be a third partner in the scenario of plant–animal interactions mediated by nectar. There is evidence that yeast has a remarkable impact on nectar feeder behavior, although the effects on plant fitness have not yet been clearly assessed.

scholarly journals Microbial-type terpene synthase genes occur widely in nonseed land plants, but not in seed plants

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (43) ◽  
pp. 12328-12333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qidong Jia ◽  
Guanglin Li ◽  
Tobias G. Köllner ◽  
Jianyu Fu ◽  
Xinlu Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Flowering Plants ◽  
Terpene Synthase ◽  
Seed Plants ◽  
Terpene Synthases ◽  
The Third ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Prenyl Diphosphate ◽  
Bacteria And Fungi ◽  
Selaginella Moellendorffii ◽  
Catalytic Functions

The vast abundance of terpene natural products in nature is due to enzymes known as terpene synthases (TPSs) that convert acyclic prenyl diphosphate precursors into a multitude of cyclic and acyclic carbon skeletons. Yet the evolution of TPSs is not well understood at higher levels of classification. Microbial TPSs from bacteria and fungi are only distantly related to typical plant TPSs, whereas genes similar to microbial TPS genes have been recently identified in the lycophyte Selaginella moellendorffii. The goal of this study was to investigate the distribution, evolution, and biochemical functions of microbial terpene synthase-like (MTPSL) genes in other plants. By analyzing the transcriptomes of 1,103 plant species ranging from green algae to flowering plants, putative MTPSL genes were identified predominantly from nonseed plants, including liverworts, mosses, hornworts, lycophytes, and monilophytes. Directed searching for MTPSL genes in the sequenced genomes of a wide range of seed plants confirmed their general absence in this group. Among themselves, MTPSL proteins from nonseed plants form four major groups, with two of these more closely related to bacterial TPSs and the other two to fungal TPSs. Two of the four groups contain a canonical aspartate-rich “DDxxD” motif. The third group has a “DDxxxD” motif, and the fourth group has only the first two “DD” conserved in this motif. Upon heterologous expression, representative members from each of the four groups displayed diverse catalytic functions as monoterpene and sesquiterpene synthases, suggesting these are important for terpene formation in nonseed plants.

scholarly journals A survey of anthocyanins VII. The natural selection of flower colour

1941 ◽  
Vol 130 (858) ◽  
pp. 113-126 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Flower Colour ◽  
Morphological Classification ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Tropical Plants ◽  
Flower Pigments ◽  
Derivatives Of ◽  
Subtropical Species ◽  
Selection Of

The anthocyanins have been identified in the flowers, fruits or leaves of approximately 200 species of plants. The results have been combined with earlier data, to ascertain the frequency with which derivatives of the three main anthocyanidin types occur as flower pigments among the species so far examined. Classification of the natural habitats of the species examined shows that pelargonidin derivatives predominate in the flowers of tropical and subtropical species, while delphinidin derivatives are the commonest in temperate and alpine plants. The colours of tropical and subtropical flowers containing cyanidin or delphinidin derivatives are generally redder than those of temperate species containing the same anthocyanin. It is concluded that red-flowered forms have a greater survival value than blue in most tropical plants. On the basis of the anthocyanin present in the flowers of thirty-two species of Tulipa , the genus falls into two groups in accordance with the morphological classification.

scholarly journals The Heavy Links between Geological Events and Vascular Plants Evolution: A Brief Outline

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aldo Piombino
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
Vascular Plants ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Flowering Plants ◽  
Plant Evolution ◽  
Seed Plants ◽  
Fast Diffusion ◽  
Extinction Rate ◽  
Environmental Condition ◽  
Plant Origin

Since the rise of photosynthesis, life has influenced terrestrial atmosphere, particularly the O2 and the CO2 content (the latter being originally more than 95%), changing the chemistry of waters, atmosphere, and soils. Billions of years after, a far offspring of these first unicellular forms conquered emerging lands, not only completely changing landscape, but also modifying geological cycles of deposition and erosion, many chemical and physical characteristics of soils and fresh waters, and, more, the cycle of various elements. So, there are no doubts that vascular plants modified geology; but it is true that also geology has affected (and, more, has driven) plant evolution. New software, PyRate, has determined vascular plant origin and diversification through a Bayesian analysis of fossil record from Silurian to today, particularly observing their origination and extinction rate. A comparison between PyRate data and geological history suggests that geological events massively influenced plant evolution and that also the rise of nonflowering seed plants and the fast diffusion of flowering plants can be explained, almost partly, with the environmental condition changes induced by geological phenomena.

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