scholarly journals Anther cones increase pollen release in buzz-pollinated Solanum flowers

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Vallejo-Marín ◽  
Carlos Eduardo Pereira Nunes ◽  
Avery Leigh Russell
Keyword(s):  
Functional Significance ◽  
Convergent Evolution ◽  
Adaptive Significance ◽  
Buzz Pollination ◽  
Mechanical Connection ◽  
Genetic Mechanisms ◽  
Conical Structure ◽  
Pollen Release ◽  
Plant Families

AbstractThe widespread evolution of tube-like anthers releasing pollen from apical pores is associated with buzz pollination, in which bees vibrate flowers to remove pollen. The mechanical connection among anthers in buzz-pollinated species varies from loosely held conformations, to anthers tightly held together with trichomes or bio-adhesives forming a functionally joined conical structure (anther cone). Joined anther cones in buzz-pollinated species have evolved independently across plant families and via different genetic mechanisms, yet their functional significance remains mostly untested. We used experimental manipulations to compare vibrational and functional (pollen release) consequences of joined anther cones in three buzz-pollinated species of Solanum (Solanaceae). We applied bee-like vibrations to focal anthers in flowers with (“joined”) and without (“free”) experimentally created joined anther cones, and characterised vibrations transmitted to other anthers and the amount of pollen released. We found that joined anther architectures cause non-focal anthers to vibrate at higher amplitudes than free architectures. Moreover, in the two species with naturally loosely held anthers, anther fusion increases pollen release, while in the species with a free but naturally compact architecture it does not. We discuss hypotheses for the adaptive significance of the convergent evolution of joined anther cones.

scholarly journals Connective appendages in Huberia bradeana (Melastomataceae) affect pollen release during buzz pollination

Plant Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Bochorny ◽  
L. F. Bacci ◽  
A. S. Dellinger ◽  
F. A. Michelangeli ◽  
R. Goldenberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Buzz Pollination ◽  
Pollen Release

scholarly journals Buzz‐pollination in Neotropical bees: genus‐dependent frequencies and lack of optimal frequency for pollen release

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Conrado Augusto Rosi‐Denadai ◽  
Priscila Cássia Souza Araújo ◽  
Lucio Antônio de Oliveira Campos ◽  
Lirio Cosme ◽  
Raul Narciso Carvalho Guedes
Keyword(s):  
Buzz Pollination ◽  
Optimal Frequency ◽  
Pollen Release

scholarly journals Convergent Evolution of Disease Resistance Gene Specificity in Two Flowering Plant Families

2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 309-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Ashfield ◽  
Laura E. Ong ◽  
Kan Nobuta ◽  
Christopher M. Schneider ◽  
Roger W. Innes
Keyword(s):  
Disease Resistance ◽  
Resistance Gene ◽  
Convergent Evolution ◽  
Flowering Plant ◽  
Disease Resistance Gene ◽  
Plant Families

scholarly journals Introduction to ‘Homology and convergence in nervous system evolution’

2016 ◽  
Vol 371 (1685) ◽  
pp. 20150034 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas J. Strausfeld ◽  
Frank Hirth
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Convergent Evolution ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Cambrian Explosion ◽  
Developmental Genetics ◽  
Society Meeting ◽  
Nervous Systems ◽  
System Evolution ◽  
Genetic Mechanisms ◽  
Nervous System Evolution

The origin of brains and central nervous systems (CNSs) is thought to have occurred before the Palaeozoic era 540 Ma. Yet in the absence of tangible evidence, there has been continued debate whether today's brains and nervous systems derive from one ancestral origin or whether similarities among them are due to convergent evolution. With the advent of molecular developmental genetics and genomics, it has become clear that homology is a concept that applies not only to morphologies, but also to genes, developmental processes, as well as to behaviours. Comparative studies in phyla ranging from annelids and arthropods to mammals are providing evidence that corresponding developmental genetic mechanisms act not only in dorso–ventral and anterior–posterior axis specification but also in segmentation, neurogenesis, axogenesis and eye/photoreceptor cell formation that appear to be conserved throughout the animal kingdom. These data are supported by recent studies which identified Mid-Cambrian fossils with preserved soft body parts that present segmental arrangements in brains typical of modern arthropods, and similarly organized brain centres and circuits across phyla that may reflect genealogical correspondence and control similar behavioural manifestations. Moreover, congruence between genetic and geological fossil records support the notion that by the ‘Cambrian explosion’ arthropods and chordates shared similarities in brain and nervous system organization. However, these similarities are strikingly absent in several sister- and outgroups of arthropods and chordates which raises several questions, foremost among them: what kind of natural laws and mechanisms underlie the convergent evolution of such similarities? And, vice versa: what are the selection pressures and genetic mechanisms underlying the possible loss or reduction of brains and CNSs in multiple lineages during the course of evolution? These questions were addressed at a Royal Society meeting to discuss homology and convergence in nervous system evolution. By integrating knowledge ranging from evolutionary theory and palaeontology to comparative developmental genetics and phylogenomics, the meeting covered disparities in nervous system origins as well as correspondences of neural circuit organization and behaviours, all of which allow evidence-based debates for and against the proposition that the nervous systems and brains of animals might derive from a common ancestor.

scholarly journals Bee and floral traits affect the characteristics of the vibrations experienced by flowers during buzz-pollination

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blanca Arroyo-Correa ◽  
Ceit Elisabeth Beattie ◽  
Mario Vallejo-Marin
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Coupling Factor ◽  
Buzz Pollination ◽  
Peak Displacement ◽  
Flight Muscles ◽  
Plant Characteristics ◽  
Pollen Release ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Solanum Spp

During buzz pollination, bees use their indirect flight muscles to produce vibrations that are transmitted to the flowers and result in pollen release. Although buzz pollination has been known for >100 years, we are still in the early stages of understanding how bee and floral characteristics affect the production and transmission of floral vibrations. Here we analysed floral vibrations produced by four closely related bumblebee taxa (Bombus spp.) on two buzz-pollinated plants species (Solanum spp.). We measured floral vibrations transmitted to the flower to establish the extent to which the mechanical properties of floral vibrations depend on bee and plant characteristics. By comparing four bee taxa visiting the same plant species, we found that peak acceleration (PA), root mean-squared acceleration (RMS) and frequency varies between bee taxa, but that neither bee size (intertegular distance) or flower biomass (dry weight) affect PA, RMS or frequency. A comparison of floral vibrations of two bee taxa visiting flowers of two plant species, showed that, while bee species affects PA, RMS and frequency, plant species affects acceleration (PA and RMS) but not frequency. When accounting for differences in the transmission of vibrations across the two types of flowers, using a species-specific 'coupling factor', we found that RMS acceleration and peak displacement does not differ between plant species. This suggests that bees produce the same initial acceleration in different plants but that transmission of these vibrations through the flower is affected by floral characteristics.

scholarly journals Integrating natural history-derived phenomics with comparative genomics to study the genetic architecture of convergent evolution

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sangeet Lamichhaney ◽  
Daren C. Card ◽  
Phil Grayson ◽  
João F.R. Tonini ◽  
Gustavo A. Bravo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Genomics ◽  
Natural History ◽  
Convergent Evolution ◽  
Phenotypic Diversity ◽  
Taxonomic Diversity ◽  
Gold Rush ◽  
Phenotypic Data ◽  
Natural History Collection ◽  
Genomic Studies ◽  
Genetic Mechanisms

AbstractEvolutionary convergence has been long considered primary evidence of adaptation driven by natural selection and provides opportunities to explore evolutionary repeatability and predictability. In recent years, there has been increased interest in exploring the genetic mechanisms underlying convergent evolution, in part due to the advent of genomic techniques. However, the current ‘genomics gold rush’ in studies of convergence has overshadowed the reality that most trait classifications are quite broadly defined, resulting in incomplete or potentially biased interpretations of results. Genomic studies of convergence would be greatly improved by integrating deep ‘vertical’, natural history knowledge with ‘horizontal’ knowledge focusing on the breadth of taxonomic diversity. Natural history collections have and continue to be best positioned for increasing our comprehensive understanding of phenotypic diversity, with modern practices of digitization and databasing of morphological traits providing exciting improvements in our ability to evaluate the degree of morphological convergence. Combining more detailed phenotypic data with the well-established field of genomics will enable scientists to make progress on an important goal in biology: to understand the degree to which genetic or molecular convergence is associated with phenotypic convergence. Although the fields of comparative biology or comparative genomics alone can separately reveal important insights into convergent evolution, here we suggest that the synergistic and complementary roles of natural history collection-derived phenomic data and comparative genomics methods can be particularly powerful in together elucidating the genomic basis of convergent evolution among higher taxa.

scholarly journals High levels of functional divergence in toxicity towards prey among the venoms of individual pigmy rattlesnakes

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 20180876 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah A. Smiley-Walters ◽  
Terence M. Farrell ◽  
H. Lisle Gibbs
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Functional Significance ◽  
Functional Divergence ◽  
Adaptive Significance ◽  
Population Variation ◽  
Population Differences ◽  
Relative Toxicity ◽  
Molecular Phenotype ◽  
Functional Variation ◽  
Sistrurus Miliarius

Venom is a complex molecular phenotype that shows high levels of variation in expressed proteins between individuals within and between populations. However, the functional significance of this variation in terms of toxicity towards prey is largely unknown. Here, we assessed the relative toxicity of venom from individual pygmy rattlesnakes ( Sistrurus miliarius ) on brown anoles ( Anolis sagrei ) using a novel assay involving tests of fixed doses of venom from individual snakes on individual lizards. We found high levels of functional variation between individual venoms within populations with individual differences (nested within population) explaining 3.6 times more variation in toxicity than population differences. Our results suggest a previously unappreciated adaptive significance to within-population variation in venom. They argue that selective mechanisms that maintain variation within populations may be of equal or greater importance to divergent selection leading to local adaption between populations as evolutionary explanations of venom variation within species.

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