The Functional Significance of Poricidal Anthers and Buzz Pollination: Controlled Pollen Removal From Dodecatheon

1994 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 509 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. D. Harder ◽  
R. M. R. Barclay
Keyword(s):  
Functional Significance ◽  
Buzz Pollination ◽  
Pollen Removal ◽  
Poricidal Anthers

scholarly journals PLoS Computational Biology Issue Image | Vol. 17(9) October 2021

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
pp. ev17.i09
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Computational Biology ◽  
Buzz Pollination ◽  
Tomato Plants ◽  
Creative Commons ◽  
Link Type ◽  
Minas Gerais State ◽  
Audible Sound ◽  
Flight Muscles ◽  
Poricidal Anthers

The tomato flowers are characterized by possessing poricidal anthers, which restrict the exit of the pollen to a tiny opening on the apex of the anther. To extract pollen efficiently, some visiting bees grasp the anthers and quickly contracting their flight muscles, producing vibrations and an audible sound. The vibrations are transferred to the anthers, shaking and stimulating the pollen inside them to leave by the pores, a phenomenon known as floral sonication or buzz-pollination. DOI: pcbi.1009426 Image Credit: Priscila de CE1;ssia Souza AraFA;jo (co-author of the manuscript) photographed this bee visiting flowers of tomato plants grown at the experimental fields of the Federal University of ViE7;osa (Minas Gerais State, Brazil). We confirm that the image can publish under the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The authors own the copyright for the image and confirm that agree with open Access License of PLOS Computational Biology.

PLoS Computational Biology Issue Image | Vol. 1(9) October 2021

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (9) ◽  
pp. ev01.i09
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Computational Biology ◽  
Buzz Pollination ◽  
Tomato Plants ◽  
Creative Commons ◽  
Link Type ◽  
Minas Gerais State ◽  
Audible Sound ◽  
Flight Muscles ◽  
Poricidal Anthers

The tomato flowers are characterized by possessing poricidal anthers, which restrict the exit of the pollen to a tiny opening on the apex of the anther. To extract pollen efficiently, some visiting bees grasp the anthers and quickly contracting their flight muscles, producing vibrations and an audible sound. The vibrations are transferred to the anthers, shaking and stimulating the pollen inside them to leave by the pores, a phenomenon known as floral sonication or buzz-pollination. DOI: pcbi.1009426 Image Credit: Priscila Souza AraFA;jo (co-author of the manuscript) photographed this bee visiting flowers of tomato plants grown at the experimental fields of the Federal University of ViE7;osa (Minas Gerais State, Brazil). We confirm that the image can publish under the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The authors own the copyright for the image and confirm that agree with open Access License of PLOS Computational Biology.

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.

Pollen larceny of the tropical weed Solanum torvum by a Fijian endemic halictine bee with implications for the spread of plants with specialized pollinator requirements

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 183-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morgan Staines ◽  
Cathy Vo ◽  
Natalie Puiu ◽  
Sarah Hayes ◽  
Marika Tuiwawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Small Contribution ◽  
Buzz Pollination ◽  
Island Ecosystems ◽  
Invasive Weed ◽  
Solanum Torvum ◽  
Total Pollen ◽  
Pollen Vector ◽  
Effective Pollinators ◽  
Poricidal Anthers ◽  
New Habitats

Abstract:The ability of plants to colonize new habitats is influenced by their dependence on effective pollinators. This can be very important for plants that require specialized pollinators, especially when they disperse to islands that have low pollinator diversity. One form of specialization involves plants that require buzz-pollination, where bees must vibrate poricidal anthers at frequencies that allow pollen to be released. Pollen larceny is a phenomenon where insects ‘steal’ pollen from flowers which usually results in reduced pollination, but in some cases there can be a small contribution to pollination. Here we report pollen larceny in an endemic Fijian halictine bee Homalictus fijiensis that steals pollen by chewing anthers of the invasive weed Solanum torvum, which is a pollen-only plant requiring buzz pollination. In over nine hours of observations at six sites where H. fijiensis visited S. torvum, it never attempted to locate nectaries, it never buzzed anthers, and instead chewed anther tips, indicating an adaptation to exploit nectarless flowers with poricidal anthers without buzz-pollination. Analyses of 30 pollen loads from H. fijiensis collected from S. torvum flowers indicate 27 of these contained S. torvum pollen, ranging from 1% to 99% of total pollen, indicating it is a pollen vector for this plant. Our findings support arguments that super-generalist pollinators in island ecosystems can promote the spread of invasive plants, but go further by indicating that super-generalist strategies can extend to plants with highly specialized pollinator requirements.

scholarly journals Are flowers tuned to buzzing pollinators? Variation in the natural frequency of stamens with different morphologies and its relationship to bee vibrations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Eduardo Pereira Nunes ◽  
Lucy Nevard ◽  
Fernando Montealegre-Zapata ◽  
Mario Vallejo-Marin
Keyword(s):  
Natural Frequency ◽  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Vibration Amplitude ◽  
Natural Frequencies ◽  
Laser Doppler ◽  
Buzz Pollination ◽  
Laser Doppler Vibrometry ◽  
Pollen Removal ◽  
Pollen Release

AbstractDuring buzz pollination, bees use vibrations to remove pollen from flowers. Vibrations at the natural frequency of pollen-carrying stamens are amplified through resonance, resulting in higher-amplitude vibrations. Because pollen release depends on vibration amplitude, bees could increase pollen removal by vibrating at the natural frequency of stamens. Yet, few studies have characterized the natural frequencies of stamens and compared them to frequencies of buzz-pollinating bees. Here we use laser Doppler vibrometry to characterise natural frequencies of stamens of six buzz-pollinated Solanum taxa of contrasting stamen morphology. We also compare the fundamental frequency of bumblebee buzzes produced on two Solanum species with different natural frequencies. We found that stamen morphology and plant identity explain variation in natural frequency of stamens. Our results show that medium-sized pollinators, such as bumblebees, produce buzzes of frequencies higher than the natural frequency of most (5/6) of the Solanum species we studied. However, the observed natural frequency of Solanum stamens is at the low end of the range of frequencies produced by other buzz-pollinating bees. Thus, our findings suggest that in some buzz pollination interactions, but not others, stamen resonance may play a role in mediating pollen release.

Functional significance of preserved color patterns of mollusks from the Gosport Sand (Eocene) of Alabama

1988 ◽  
Vol 62 (01) ◽  
pp. 83-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia H. Kelley ◽  
Charles T. Swann
Keyword(s):  
Functional Morphology ◽  
Functional Significance ◽  
Intraspecific Variability ◽  
Color Pattern ◽  
Color Patterns ◽  
Historical Factors ◽  
Life Mode ◽  
Molluscan Fauna ◽  
Excellent Preservation ◽  
Architectural Constraints

The excellent preservation of the molluscan fauna from the Gosport Sand (Eocene) at Little Stave Creek, Alabama, has made it possible to describe the preserved color patterns of 15 species. In this study the functional significance of these color patterns is tested in the context of the current adaptationist controversy. The pigment of the color pattern is thought to be a result of metabolic waste disposal. Therefore, the presence of the pigment is functional, although the patterns formed by the pigment may or may not have been adaptive. In this investigation the criteria proposed by Seilacher (1972) for testing the functionality of color patterns were applied to the Gosport fauna and the results compared with life mode as interpreted from knowledge of extant relatives and functional morphology. Using Seilacher's criteria of little ontogenetic and intraspecific variability, the color patterns appear to have been functional. However, the functional morphology studies indicate an infaunal life mode which would preclude functional color patterns. Particular color patterns are instead interpreted to be the result of historical factors, such as multiple adaptive peaks or random fixation of alleles, or of architectural constraints including possibly pleiotropy or allometry. The low variability of color patterns, which was noted within species and genera, suggests that color patterns may also serve a useful taxonomic purpose.

Complex Vesicles, Microtubules, and Cytoplasmic Filaments in the Endothelial Cells of Normal Dog Aorta

1968 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 172-173
Author(s):  
C. N. Sun ◽  
J. J. Ghidoni
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Endothelial Cells ◽  
Cross Sections ◽  
Functional Significance ◽  
Tubular Structures ◽  
Aldehyde Fixation ◽  
Cytoplasmic Filaments

Endothelial cells in longitudinal and cross sections of aortas from 3 randomly selected “normal” mongrel dogs were studied by electron microscopy. Segments of aorta were distended with cold cacodylate buffered 5% glutaraldehyde for 10 minutes prior to being cut into small, well oriented tissue blocks. After an additional 1-1/2 hour period in glutaraldehyde, the tissue blocks were well rinsed in buffer and post-fixed in OsO4. After dehydration they were embedded in a mixture of Maraglas, D.E.R. 732, and DDSA.Aldehyde fixation preserves the filamentous and tubular structures (300 Å and less) for adequate demonstration and study. The functional significance of filaments and microtubules has been recently discussed by Buckley and Porter; the precise roles of these cytoplasmic components remains problematic. Endothelial cells in canine aortas contained an abundance of both types of structures.

The functional significance of motor-cortical oscillations for implicit and explicit motor learning

2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
B Pollok ◽  
D Latz ◽  
V Krause ◽  
M Butz ◽  
A Schnitzler
Keyword(s):  
Motor Learning ◽  
Functional Significance ◽  
Cortical Oscillations ◽  
Motor Cortical ◽  
Implicit And Explicit ◽  
Explicit Motor Learning
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