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Barnett JR, Tieman DM, Caicedo AL. Variation in ripe fruit volatiles across the tomato clade: An evolutionary framework for studying fruit scent diversity in a crop wild relative. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 2023; 110:e16223. [PMID: 37551422 DOI: 10.1002/ajb2.16223] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2023] [Revised: 07/13/2023] [Accepted: 07/13/2023] [Indexed: 08/09/2023]
Abstract
PREMISE The scents of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are an important component of ripe fleshy fruit attractiveness, yet their variation across closely related wild species is poorly understood. Phylogenetic patterns in these compounds and their biosynthetic pathways offer insight into the evolutionary drivers of fruit diversity, including whether scent can communicate an honest signal of nutrient content to animal dispersers. We assessed ripe fruit VOC content across the tomato clade (Solanum sect. Lycopersicon), with implications for crop improvement since these compounds are key components of tomato flavor. METHODS We analyzed ripe fruit volatiles from 13 species of wild tomato grown in a common garden. Interspecific variations in 66 compounds and their biosynthetic pathways were assessed in 32 accessions, and an accession-level phylogeny was constructed to account for relatedness. RESULTS Wild tomato species can be differentiated by their VOCs, with Solanum pennellii notably distinct. Phylogenetic conservatism exists to a limited extent. Major cladewide patterns corresponded to divergence of the five brightly colored-fruited species from the nine green-fruited species, particularly for nitrogen-containing compounds (higher in colored-fruited) and esters (higher in green-fruited), the latter appearing to signal a sugar reward. CONCLUSIONS We established a framework for fruit scent evolution studies in a crop wild relative system, showing that each species in the tomato clade has a unique VOC profile. Differences between color groups align with fruit syndromes that could be driven by selection from frugivores. The evolution of colored fruits was accompanied by changes in biosynthetic pathways for esters and nitrogen-containing compounds, volatiles important to tomato flavor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacob R Barnett
- Graduate Program in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA, 01003, USA
| | - Denise M Tieman
- Horticultural Sciences Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
| | - Ana L Caicedo
- Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA, 01003, USA
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Nevo O, Valenta K, Helman A, Ganzhorn JU, Ayasse M. Fruit scent as an honest signal for fruit quality. BMC Ecol Evol 2022; 22:139. [PMID: 36451093 PMCID: PMC9710009 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-022-02064-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2022] [Accepted: 09/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fleshy fruits evolved to be attractive to seed dispersers through various signals such as color and scent. Signals can evolve through different trajectories and have various degrees of reliability. The strongest substrate on which reliable signals can evolve is when there is an inherent link between signal and reward, rendering cheating costly or impossible. It was recently proposed that aliphatic esters in fruit scent may be predictive of sugar content due to their synthesis from products of sugar fermentation. We test this hypothesis on a case study of wild fig species (Ficus tiliifolia) from Madagascar, which relies on seed dispersal by lemurs. RESULTS We found a strong positive correlation between signal (esters) and reward (sugar). We also found that non-esters, including direct fermentation products, in fruit scent do not indicate sugar levels, which implies that this relationship is not simply a product of fruit maturation wherein more mature fruits emit more scent and contain more sugar. CONCLUSIONS While based on a single taxon, these results strongly support the hypothesis that a biochemical link between ester synthesis and sugar may render the ester fraction of fruit scent an honest signal for fruit quality, with consequences for animal sensory and feeding ecology, and the evolution of plants in the context of seed dispersal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Omer Nevo
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany. .,Institute of Biodiversity, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany. .,Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.
| | - Kim Valenta
- grid.15276.370000 0004 1936 8091Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL USA
| | - Annabella Helman
- grid.26009.3d0000 0004 1936 7961Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC USA
| | - Jörg U. Ganzhorn
- grid.9026.d0000 0001 2287 2617Animal Ecology and Conservation, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Manfred Ayasse
- grid.6582.90000 0004 1936 9748Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
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Valenta K, Bhramdat HD, Calhoun GV, Daegling DJ, Nevo O. Variation in ripe fruit hardness: a mechanical constraint? OIKOS 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.08074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Kim Valenta
- Dept of Anthropology, Univ. of Florida, Turlington Hall Gainesville FL USA
| | - Henna D. Bhramdat
- Dept of Anthropology, Univ. of Florida, Turlington Hall Gainesville FL USA
| | - Grace V. Calhoun
- Dept of Anthropology, Univ. of Florida, Turlington Hall Gainesville FL USA
| | - David J. Daegling
- Dept of Anthropology, Univ. of Florida, Turlington Hall Gainesville FL USA
| | - Omer Nevo
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle‐Jena‐Leipzig Leipzig Germany
- Friedrich Schiller Univ. Jena, Inst. of Biodiversity Jena Germany
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Nevo O, Valenta K, Kleiner A, Razafimandimby D, Jeffrey JAJ, Chapman CA, Ayasse M. The evolution of fruit scent: phylogenetic and developmental constraints. BMC Evol Biol 2020; 20:138. [PMID: 33109084 PMCID: PMC7590443 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-020-01708-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2019] [Accepted: 10/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fruit scent is increasingly recognized as an evolved signal whose function is to attract animal seed dispersers and facilitate plant reproduction. However, like all traits, fruit scent is likely to evolve in response to conflicting selective pressures and various constraints. Two major constraints are (i) phylogenetic constraints, in which traits are inherited from ancestors rather than adapted to current conditions and (ii) developmental constraints, if phenotypes are limited by the expression of other traits within the individual. We tested whether phylogenetic constraints play a role in fruit scent evolution by calculating the phylogenetic signal in ripe fruits of 98 species from three study sites. We then estimated the importance of developmental constraints by examining whether ripe fruits tend to emit compounds that are chemically similar to, and share biosynthetic pathways with, compounds emitted by conspecific unripe fruits from which they develop. RESULTS We show that closely related taxa are not more similar to each other than to very distinct taxa, thus indicating that fruit scent shows little phylogenetic signal. At the same time, although ripe and unripe fruits of the same species tend to emit different chemicals, they tend to employ chemicals originating from similar biosynthetic pathways, thus indicating that some developmental constraints determine ripe fruit scent. CONCLUSIONS Our results highlight the complex landscape in which fruit scent has evolved. On one hand, fruit scent evolution is not limited by common ancestry. On the other hand, the range of chemicals that can be employed in ripe fruits is probably constrained by the needs of unripe fruits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Omer Nevo
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstraße 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Biodiversity, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Dornburgerstr 159, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Kim Valenta
- Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL USA
| | - Annemarie Kleiner
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Diary Razafimandimby
- Faculty of Sciences, Zoology and Animal Biodiversity, University of Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar
| | - Juan Antonio James Jeffrey
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT USA
- School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH USA
| | - Colin A. Chapman
- Department of Anthropology, Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20037 USA
- School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Animal Conservation, Northwest University, Xi’an, China
| | - Manfred Ayasse
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
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Valenta K, Daegling DJ, Nevo O, Ledogar J, Sarkar D, Kalbitzer U, Bortolamiol S, Omeja P, Chapman CA, Ayasse M, Kay R, Williams B. Fruit Selectivity in Anthropoid Primates: Size Matters. INT J PRIMATOL 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s10764-020-00158-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Valenta K, Nevo O. The dispersal syndrome hypothesis: How animals shaped fruit traits, and how they did not. Funct Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13564] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Kim Valenta
- Department of Anthropology University of Florida Gainesville FL USA
| | - Omer Nevo
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics Ulm University Ulm Germany
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Critical Phenological Events Affect Chemical Defense of Plant Tissues: Iridoid Glycosides in a Woody Shrub. J Chem Ecol 2020; 46:206-216. [PMID: 31907751 DOI: 10.1007/s10886-019-01135-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2019] [Revised: 11/30/2019] [Accepted: 12/09/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Plants are chemically-complex organisms; each individual contains diverse tissue-types, has the ability to differentially allocate secondary metabolites to these tissues and can change this allocation through time. The interaction of variation in chemical defense of different tissue types and variation in chemical defense through time, however, is rarely examined and has not been studied for iridoid glycoside-producing woody plants. In this study, we quantified allocation of iridoid glycosides (IGs) to the leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds of 25 individuals of a long-lived shrub (Lonicera x bella Zabel, Caprifoliaceae), at five important phenological timepoints (leaf-out, flowering, fruit appearance, fruit ripening, and fruit dispersal) throughout a growing season. We found that leaves had 2x higher IG concentrations during flowering and fruiting than earlier in the season (after leaf-out), and later in the season (after fruit dispersal). The individual IG driving this increase in leaves during reproduction, secologanin, was also the most abundant IG in semiripe fruits. Flowers and seeds were composed of different proportions of individual IGs than fruits or leaves, but did not change across time and had overall low concentrations of IGs. In L. x bella, phenological events such as flowering and fruiting lead to an increase in leaf chemical defense that is likely to influence interactions with leaf-feeders. Our results stress the importance of considering phenology when sampling plants for the quantification of chemical defenses.
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Nevo O, Razafimandimby D, Valenta K, Jeffrey JAJ, Reisdorff C, Chapman CA, Ganzhorn JU, Ayasse M. Signal and reward in wild fleshy fruits: Does fruit scent predict nutrient content? Ecol Evol 2019; 9:10534-10543. [PMID: 31624565 PMCID: PMC6787828 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5573] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2019] [Revised: 07/15/2019] [Accepted: 07/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Plant species with fleshy fruits offer animals rewards such as sugar, protein, and fat, to feed on their fruits and disperse their seeds. They have also evolved visual and olfactory signals indicating their presence and ripeness.In some systems, fruit color serves as a reliable visual signal of nutrient content. Yet even though many volatile chemicals used as olfactory signals derive from nutrients animals seek, it is still unknown whether fruit scent encodes information regarding nutrient content in wild fruits.We examine the relationship between olfactory signals and nutrient rewards in 28 fruiting plant species in Madagascar. We measured the relative amounts of four chemical classes in fruit scent using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, as well as the relative amounts of sugar and protein in fruit pulp.We found that protein levels are not associated with elevated amounts of chemically related volatile compounds in fruit scent. In contrast, sugar content is strongly associated with the chemical composition of fruit scent.To our knowledge, this is the first research to explore the connection between fruit chemical signals and nutrient rewards. Our results imply that in the case of sugar, fruit scent is predictive of nutrient content and hence an honest signal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Omer Nevo
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation GenomicsUlm UniversityUlmGermany
| | - Diary Razafimandimby
- Faculty of Sciences, Zoology and Animal BiodiversityUniversity of AntananarivoAntananarivoMadagascar
| | - Kim Valenta
- Department of AnthropologyUniversity of FloridaGainesvilleFLUSA
| | - Juan Antonio James Jeffrey
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation GenomicsUlm UniversityUlmGermany
- Department of Molecular and Cell BiologyUniversity of ConnecticutStorrsCTUSA
| | - Christoph Reisdorff
- Institute of Plant Science and MicrobiologyUniversity of HamburgHamburgGermany
| | - Colin A. Chapman
- Department of AnthropologyMcGill UniversityMontrealQCCanada
- School of Life ScienceUniversity of KwaZulu‐NatalScottsvilleSouth Africa
- Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China of Ministry of EducationCollege of Life ScienceNorthwest UniversityXianChina
| | - Jörg U. Ganzhorn
- Animal Ecology and ConservationUniversity of HamburgHamburgGermany
| | - Manfred Ayasse
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation GenomicsUlm UniversityUlmGermany
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Melin AD, Nevo O, Shirasu M, Williamson RE, Garrett EC, Endo M, Sakurai K, Matsushita Y, Touhara K, Kawamura S. Fruit scent and observer colour vision shape food-selection strategies in wild capuchin monkeys. Nat Commun 2019; 10:2407. [PMID: 31160592 PMCID: PMC6546703 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-10250-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2018] [Accepted: 04/30/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The senses play critical roles in helping animals evaluate foods, including fruits that can change both in colour and scent during ripening to attract frugivores. Although numerous studies have assessed the impact of colour on fruit selection, comparatively little is known about fruit scent and how olfactory and visual data are integrated during foraging. We combine 25 months of behavioural data on 75 wild, white-faced capuchins (Cebus imitator) with measurements of fruit colours and scents from 18 dietary plant species. We show that frequency of fruit-directed olfactory behaviour is positively correlated with increases in the volume of fruit odours produced during ripening. Monkeys with red-green colour blindness sniffed fruits more often, indicating that increased reliance on olfaction is a behavioural strategy that mitigates decreased capacity to detect red-green colour contrast. These results demonstrate a complex interaction among fruit traits, sensory capacities and foraging strategies, which help explain variation in primate behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda D Melin
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada.
- Department of Medical Genetics and Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2N 4N1, Canada.
| | - Omer Nevo
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89081, Ulm, Germany
| | - Mika Shirasu
- Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan
- ERATO Touhara Chemosensory Signal Project, JST, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan
| | - Rachel E Williamson
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada
| | - Eva C Garrett
- Department of Anthropology, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA
| | - Mizuki Endo
- Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8562, Japan
| | - Kodama Sakurai
- Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8562, Japan
| | - Yuka Matsushita
- Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8562, Japan
| | - Kazushige Touhara
- Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan
- ERATO Touhara Chemosensory Signal Project, JST, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan
| | - Shoji Kawamura
- Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8562, Japan.
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