scholarly journals Rational design of a novel pollinator interaction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelsey J.R.P. Byers ◽  
H.D. Bradshaw

AbstractDiversification of the ca. 250,000 extant flowering plant species has been driven in large part by coevolution with animal pollinators. A recurring pattern of pollinator shifts from hummingbird to hawkmoth pollination has characterized plant speciation in many western North American plant taxa, but in the genus Mimulus (monkeyflowers) section Erythranthe the evolution of hawkmoth pollination from hummingbird-pollinated ancestors has not occurred. We manipulated two flower color loci and tested the attractiveness of the resulting four color phenotypes (red, yellow, pink, white) to naïve hawkmoths. Hawkmoths strongly prefer derived colors (yellow, pink, white) over the ancestral red, and prefer the two-locus change (white) to either of the single-locus changes (yellow, pink). The simple flower color genetics underlying this innate pollinator preference suggests a potential path for speciation into an unfilled hawkmoth-pollinated niche, and the deliberate design of a hawkmoth-pollinated flower demonstrates a new, predictive method for studying pollination syndrome evolution.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelsey J. R. P. Byers ◽  
H. D. Bradshaw

Diversification of the ca. 275,000 extant flowering plant species has been driven in large part by coevolution with animal pollinators. A recurring pattern of pollinator shifts from hummingbird to hawkmoth pollination has characterized plant speciation in many western North American plant taxa, but in the genus Mimulus (monkeyflowers) section Erythranthe the evolution of hawkmoth pollination from hummingbird-pollinated ancestors has not occurred. We manipulated two flower color loci and tested the attractiveness of the resulting four color phenotypes (red, yellow, pink, and white) to naïve hawkmoths (Manduca sexta). Hawkmoths strongly prefer derived colors (yellow, pink, white) over the ancestral red when choosing an initial flower to visit, and generally preferred derived colors when total visits and total visit time were considered, with no hawkmoth preferring ancestral red over derived colors. The simple flower color genetics underlying this innate pollinator preference suggests a potential path for speciation into an unfilled hawkmoth-pollinated niche in Mimulus section Erythranthe, and the deliberate design of a hawkmoth-pollinated flower demonstrates a new, predictive method for studying pollination syndrome evolution.


2011 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 359-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
LC Rocha-Filho ◽  
IMP Rinaldi

Although crab spiders are common in flowering plants, their relations with plant species and its floral traits have been poorly known in the Neotropics. Observations regarding plant habits, floral visitors and also floral characteristics such as anthesis, odour, shape, colour and floral resources were recorded in flowering plant species of an area of "Cerrado" on a 2 km long trail. Misumenops argenteus and Misumenops pallens accounted for 62.86% of the spiders captured on 22 flowering plant species. The plants Senna rugosa (Fabaceae), Styrax ferrugineus (Styracaceae) and Banisteriopsis campestris (Malpighiaceae), hosted, each one, about 10 to 17% of the total spiders collected and these plants had diurnal anthesis, bee-attractive flower colours such as yellow (S. rugosa), white (S. ferrugineus), and pink (B. campestris), poricidal anthers as well as being visited by bees which evidenced bee-pollination syndrome. This study is the first survey regarding crab spiders and their associations with plant species of the "Cerrado".


eLife ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jered M Wendte ◽  
Yinwen Zhang ◽  
Lexiang Ji ◽  
Xiuling Shi ◽  
Rashmi R Hazarika ◽  
...  

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.


Koedoe ◽  
1977 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
B.L. Penzhorn

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.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 587-597
Author(s):  
Raúl Badillo‐Montaño ◽  
Armando Aguirre ◽  
Miguel A. Munguía‐Rosas

2006 ◽  
Vol 66 (2a) ◽  
pp. 463-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Antonini ◽  
R. G. Costa ◽  
R. P. Martins

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.


Nature ◽  
1979 ◽  
Vol 281 (5733) ◽  
pp. 670-672 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nickolas M. Waser ◽  
Leslie A. Real

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 203
Author(s):  
Endro Setiawan ◽  
Dedy Darnaedi ◽  
Ismail Rachman ◽  
Teguh Triono ◽  
Campbell O. Webb

Indonesia is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots. It is estimated to be the home of 9.5% flowering plant species, making it the seventh country with the highest biodiversity. Plant data collection is necessary to ascertain the level of plant biodiversity, as such data help in conservation efforts and long-term management. One of the methods applied is the collection of plants, with the purpose to acquire as much data about its biological resources. The collected specimen are then gathered and processed into a herbarium to be used as an information source in managing biological resources. Unfortunately, there are some difficulties related to the making and management of a herbarium. Digital herbarium are one of the potential solutions to the limitations of the traditional herbarium. It is a collection of plant pictures, replete with every step of productivity (leaf, flower, fruit) and the main characteristics of the plant species. It is an effective method for the identification and collection of plant biodiversity in Indonesia. About 2149 plants have been gathered from Borneo, Seram, Waigeo, Flores and Sulawesi which consisted of 152 family, 512 genus, and 1,832 species, with a total of 30391 pictures of plant parts. From the experiment conducted on 672 specimens, it achieved 98.8 % accuracy on the family level and 80.1 % accuracy on the genus level, while the species level reached 78.8%. The results showed that digital herbarium can be used to conduct identification and data collection of plant biodiversity. Furthermore, this method is simple, cheap and relatively easier to conduct. The output is a catalog of plant species in specific areas, which provides better understanding about plant identification and biodiversity, enhances conservation practices, and provides better long-term protection for Indonesian plant biodiversity.


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