scholarly journals Reproductive and pollination biology of the Critically Endangered endemic Campanula vardariana in Western Anatolia (Turkey)

2021 ◽  
Vol 154 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-55
Author(s):  
Ümit Subaşı ◽  
Aykut Güvensen

Background and aims – Campanula vardariana (Campanulaceae) is a critically endangered endemic chasmophyte with a single population situated in the west of Turkey. Very little is known about the reproductive biology of C. vardariana and more information is needed to develop a sound conservation strategy for this endemic species.Material and methods – Floral traits such as flower morphology, nectar, and sugar concentration, as well as pollen viability and stigma receptivity were measured in different floral phases. We observed insect visitations to the flowers and identified pollinators. Additionally, we investigated the effect of cross and self-pollination on fruit and seed production.Key results – The flowers of C. vardariana are protandrous. The length of the styles, which were 8.74 mm during the pollen loading phase, reached 11.35 mm during the pollen presentation phase. The visitor observations made on the C. vardariana flowers revealed 11 visitor species from 5 families: 5 Halictidae, 3 Apidae, and one species each from Megachilidae, Colletidae, and Bombyliidae. Lasioglossum spp. touched the anthers and stigma using several parts of their bodies and were significant pollinators of C. vardariana. Under natural conditions, the mean number of seeds per fruit was around 60 after cross pollination, while no fruits were formed when pollinators were excluded.Conclusion – Campanula vardariana is entirely dependent on pollinators for its reproductive success, and bees, especially Halictidae and to a lesser extent Apidae, play an important role. Campanula vardariana is restricted to cracks in calcareous rocks and its population is threatened by goat overgrazing and mining activities (quarry formation). Since seed production is abundant in this population, anthropogenic activities currently form the biggest threat to its existence.

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 451-458
Author(s):  
Talita Oliveira Nascimento ◽  
Patricia Campos Silva ◽  
Vivian Loges ◽  
Sandra Mariotto ◽  
Willian Krause ◽  
...  

The secondary presentation of pollen consists of a foral mechanism where the presentation of pollen occurs in other foral structures in addition to the anther, in order to increase the precision of the dispersion of the pollen by the vectors. This study aims to describe the temporal dynamics of secondary pollen presentation, and morphological and morphometric characteristics in stages of pre- anthesis and anthesis in genotypes of fve natural Heliconia psittacorum populations. For the study of foral morphometry traits of length of the fower, stamen, stigma and height of flament insertion in the petal in bud and fower were measured. The foral morphology of pre-anthesis buds and fowers in anthesis, the presence or absence of characteristics such as herkogamy, region of flament insertion in the petal, region of stylar hairs, and of secondary pollen deposition were evaluated. Treatments of controlled pollinations, self-pollination, geitonogamy, cross-pollination, natural pollination and growth to pollen tube were sampled. Floral herkogamy and pollen transfer to the adhered hairs in the stylar region were clearly observed during anthesis, constituting the frst record of occurrence of secondary pollen presentation in Heliconiaceae. Pollen tube growth was inhibited in the stigmatic, style and basal regions of the pistil. Natural fruiting produced little or no fruit. The positioning of the stamens above the stigma, pollen viability and stigma receptivity during anthesis of H. psittacorum fowers may favor self-pollination. The stylar hairs observed in all H. psittacorum populations’ help in the retention of pollen grains. The low fruiting rate in controlled and natural pollinations suggest that the main propagation form of H. psittacorum in the study areas is based on asexual reproduction.


Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 961
Author(s):  
J. Antonio Cortiñas Rodríguez ◽  
María Fernández-González ◽  
Estefanía González-Fernández ◽  
Rosa A. Vázquez-Ruiz ◽  
F. Javier Rodríguez-Rajo ◽  
...  

In the present study, we analyzed the main parameters related with the potential fertilization ability of two grapevine varieties, Godello and Mencía, during the years 2017 and 2018. The research was carried out in two vineyards of the Galician winegrowing Designation of Origin areas of Ribeiro and Ribeira Sacra. Ten vines of each variety were selected for bunch and flower counting, pollen calculations, pollen viability studies by means of aceto-carmine (AC) stain and 2, 3, 5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) methods, and the determination of their germination rate. In all vineyards the 50% fruitset was reached, except for Godello in Cenlle during 2017. The mean coulure value was higher for Godello (40.5%) than for Mencía (31%). Analyzing the pollen production per plant and airborne pollen levels, we observed important discordances between them, which can be due to the influence of weather conditions and be related with self-pollination processes. We found important differences on pollen viability depending on the applied method and variety, with higher values for the AC method than the TTC for both varieties in all study plots, and higher values for Mencía variety than Godello. Regarding germination rates, we observed a marked reduction in 2017 with respect to 2018, in all study sites and for both varieties. The analyzed parameters were useful to explain the different productive abilities of Godello and Mencía varieties in the two studied bioclimatic regions of Ribeiro and Ribeira Sacra.


1975 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. R. Mead-Briggs ◽  
J. A. Vaughan

SUMMARYLaboratory studies showed that few rabbit fleas (Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Dale)) transmitted myxomatosis after removal from wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus (L)) that had been infected for fewer than 10–12 days, irrespective of the virulence of the myxoma virus strain involved. Rabbits infected with fully virulent (Grade I) strains died within 10–15 days and few fleas from these hosts became infective; averaging all the samples taken, 12% of the fleas were infective. Also, few fleas acquired infectivity on individual rabbits which recovered from infection with attenuated strains; the mean was 8% infective. Rabbits which died between 17 and 44 days after infection had higher proportions of infective fleas at all sampling times; the mean was 42% infective. Male and female fleas transmitted virus with equal efficiency.For rabbits infected with any of the attenuated virus strains the mean percentage of infective fleas was inversely related to the survival time of the host. Rabbits infected with moderately attenuated strains (Grades IIIA and IIIB) had, on average, the highest proportion of infective fleas; hence such strains have a selective advantage and have become predominant under natural conditions in Britain. The changes that might occur if there is an increase in host resistance to myxomatosis are discussed.


2011 ◽  
Vol 56 (24) ◽  
pp. 2586-2593 ◽  
Author(s):  
ZhengHuan Wang ◽  
Hong Yao ◽  
YouZhong Ding ◽  
John Thorbjarnarson ◽  
XiaoMing Wang

1975 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
T D Pollard

Electron micrographs of negatively stained synthetic myosin filaments reveal that surface projections, believed to be the heads of the constituent myosin molecules, can exist in two configurations. Some filaments have the projections disposed close to the filament backbone. Other filaments have all of their projections widely spread, tethered to the backbone by slender threads. Filaments formed from the myosins of skeletal muscle, smooth muscle, and platelets each have distinctive features, particularly their lengths. Soluble mixtures of skeletal muscle myosin with either smooth muscle myosin or platelet myosin were dialyzed against 0.1 M KC1 at pH 7 to determine whether the simultaneous presence of two types of myosin would influence the properties of the filaments formed. In every case, a single population of filaments formed from the mixtures. The resulting filaments are thought to be copolymers of the two types of myosin, for several reasons: (a) their length-frequency distribution is unimodal and differs from that predicted for a simple mixture of two types of myosin filaments; (b) their mean length is intermediate between the mean lengths of the filaments formed separately from the two myosins in the mixture; (c) each of the filaments has structural features characteristic of both of the myosins in the mixture; and (d) their size and shape are determined by the proportion of the two myosins in the mixture.


2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamim Zaky Hadibasyir ◽  
Seftiawan Samsu Rijal ◽  
Dewi Ratna Sari

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was firstly identified in Wuhan, China. By 23rd January 2020, China’s Government made a decision to execute lockdown policy in Wuhan due to the rapid transmission of COVID-19. It is essential to investigate the land surface temperature (LST) dynamics due to changes in level of anthropogenic activities. Therefore, this study aims (1) to investigate mean LST differences between during, i.e., December 2019 to early March 2020, and before the emergence of COVID-19 in Wuhan; (2) to conduct spatio-temporal analysis of mean LST with regards to lockdown policy; and (3) to examine mean LST differences for each land cover type. MODIS data consist of MOD11A2 and MCD12Q1 were employed. The results showed that during the emergence of COVID-19 with lockdown policy applied, the mean LST was lower than the mean LST of the past three years on the same dates. Whereas, during the emergence of COVID-19 without lockdown policy applied, the mean LST was relatively higher than the mean LST of the past three years. In addition, the mean LST of built-up areas experienced the most significant differences between during the emergence of COVID-19 with lockdown policy applied in comparison to the average of the past three years.


2021 ◽  
Vol 154 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-216
Author(s):  
Isys Mascarenhas Souza ◽  
Frederic Mendes Hughes ◽  
Ligia Silveira Funch ◽  
Luciano Paganucci de Queiroz

Background and aims – Copaifera coriacea, a species in the resin-producing clade Detarioideae (Leguminosae), is an endemic and abundant species found in sand dunes in Brazilian Caatinga domain vegetation – a Quaternary paleodesert. We investigated floral traits and aspects of pollination biology, focusing on the pollination system of C. coriacea. Material and methods – Anthesis duration, stigma receptivity, pollen viability, nectar concentration, and the presence of osmophores and pigments reflecting UV light were assessed. Floral visitors were classified as potential pollinators, occasional pollinators or thieves, based on the time and foraging behaviour and resource collected. Pollination effectiveness were assessed for potential pollinators by the detection of pollen tubes on the stigma or stylar canal by epifluorescence microscopy.Key results – The species has white and small flowers, with anthesis beginning in the dark (ca 00:30) and the flowers are completely opened approximately 3 h later, when a sweet odour is perceptible. The onset of stigma receptivity and pollen grain viability occurs only after the completion of flower opening, and a concentrated nectar is available during the day. The presence of pollen tubes confirmed the efficiency of the main insects in the transfer of pollen. Conclusion – Our result demonstrates that C. coriacea has a generalist pollination system mediated mainly by two distinct guilds of insect pollinators: moths (nocturnal, searching for nectar) and bees (diurnal, pollen collectors). This finding can provide more information about diversification in the genus Copaifera.


2007 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qigang Ye ◽  
Eric Bunn ◽  
Siegfried L. Krauss ◽  
Kingsley W. Dixon

Symonanthus bancroftii is a critically endangered dioecious shrub, with only one male and one female plant known in the wild. Micropropagated, clonal plants of the male and female parents were hand-pollinated. Seed was germinated in sterile culture and a subsequent daughter (F1) seedling was multiplied in vitro. Micropropagated plants of the original parents and daughter were reintroduced to a natural habitat site. We detail the first study of pollination biology and reproductive success in this extremely rare species. Floral morphology, flowering phenology, pollen viability, female receptivity and fruit set of reintroduced plants of S. bancroftii were investigated. Flower viability of S. bancroftii shows a 25-day maximum for male flowers, whereas non-pollinated female flowers remain viable for a maximum of 38 days (female parent) and 41 days (daughter), respectively. Flowering of reintroduced male and female plants overlaps from mid-June to early November. Pollen remained viable for at least 8 days after anther dehiscence. Maximum stigma longevity recorded was 28 days (female parent) and 39 days (daughter) and maximum ovule longevity varied from 13 days (female parent) to 28 days (daughter). The mean percentage of flowers setting fruit was 39 ± 13% for female parent plants and 48 ± 4% for daughter plants. Empirical reproductive success measures for male–daughter crosses generally exceeded those of the original parent crosses. The reproductive success of S. bancroftii so soon after reintroduction of plants is a positive sign indicating that rapid accumulation of a soil seedbank is feasible and is thus an important first step towards successful establishment of self-sustaining populations of this critically endangered species.


Author(s):  
JOAN WELKOWITZ ◽  
ROBERT B. EWEN ◽  
JACOB COHEN
Keyword(s):  

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