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Buchmann SL, Papaj DR. Hung out to dry: diminished flowers offer less to pollinators and us. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2024; 244:746-748. [PMID: 39117350 DOI: 10.1111/nph.19975] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/10/2024]
Abstract
This article is a Commentary on Barman et al. (2024), 244: 1013–1023.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen L Buchmann
- Department of Entomology, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
| | - Daniel R Papaj
- Department of Entomology, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
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Lunau K, De Camargo MGG, Brito VLG. Pollen, anther, stamen, and androecium mimicry. PLANT BIOLOGY (STUTTGART, GERMANY) 2024; 26:349-368. [PMID: 38407440 DOI: 10.1111/plb.13628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 02/27/2024]
Abstract
Floral colours represent a highly diverse communication signal mainly involved in flower visitors' attraction and guidance, but also flower discrimination, filtering non-pollinators and discouraging floral antagonists. The divergent visual systems and colour preferences of flower visitors, as well as the necessity of cues for flower detection and discrimination, foster the diversity of floral colours and colour patterns. Despite the bewildering diversity of floral colour patterns, a recurrent component is a yellow UV-absorbing floral centre, and it is still not clear why this pattern is so frequent in angiosperms. The pollen, anther, stamen, and androecium mimicry (PASAM) hypothesis suggests that the system composed of the flowers possessing such yellow UV-absorbing floral reproductive structures, the flowers displaying central yellow UV-absorbing structures as floral guides, and the pollen-collecting, as well as pollen-eating, flower visitors responding to such signals constitute the world's most speciose mimicry system. In this review, we call the attention of researchers to some hypothetical PASAM systems around the globe, presenting some fascinating examples that illustrate their huge diversity. We will also present new and published data on pollen-eating and pollen-collecting pollinators' responses to PASAM structures supporting the PASAM hypothesis and will discuss how widespread these systems are around the globe. Ultimately, our goal is to promote the idea that PASAM is a plausible first approach to understanding floral colour patterns in angiosperms.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Lunau
- Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Institute of Sensory Ecology, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - M G G De Camargo
- Phenology Lab, Department of Biodiversity, Biosciences Institute, UNESP - São Paulo State University, Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - V L G Brito
- Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
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van der Kooi CJ, Vallejo-Marín M, Leonhardt SD. Mutualisms and (A)symmetry in Plant-Pollinator Interactions. Curr Biol 2021; 31:R91-R99. [PMID: 33497641 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.11.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
The majority of flowering plants relies on animal pollinators for sexual reproduction and many animal pollinators rely on floral resources. However, interests of plants and pollinators are often not the same, resulting in an asymmetric relationship that ranges from mutualistic to parasitic interactions. Our understanding of the processes that underlie this asymmetry remains fragmentary. In this Review, we bring together evidence from evolutionary biology, plant chemistry, biomechanics, sensory ecology and behaviour to illustrate that the degree of symmetry often depends on the perspective taken. We also highlight variation in (a)symmetry within and between plant and pollinator species as well as between geographic locations. Through taking different perspectives from the plant and pollinator sides we provide new ground for studies on the maintenance and evolution of animal pollination and on the (a)symmetry in plant-pollinator interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Casper J van der Kooi
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
| | | | - Sara D Leonhardt
- Department of Ecology and Ecosystem Management, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany
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Russell AL, Sanders SR, Wilson LA, Papaj DR. The Size of it: Scant Evidence That Flower Size Variation Affects Deception in Intersexual Floral Mimicry. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.724712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Mutualisms involve cooperation, but also frequently involve conflict. Plant-pollinator mutualisms are no exception. To facilitate animal pollination, flowering plants often offer pollen (their male gametes) as a food reward. Since plants benefit by maximizing pollen export to conspecific flowers, we might expect plants to cheat on pollen rewards. In intersexual floral mimicry, rewarding pollen-bearing male flowers (models) are mimicked by rewardless female flowers (mimics) on the same plant. Pollinators should therefore learn to avoid the unrewarding mimics. Plants might impede such learning by producing phenotypically variable flowers that cause bees to generalize among models and mimics during learning. In this laboratory study, we used partially artificial flowers (artificial petals, live reproductive parts) modeled after Begonia odorata to test whether variation in the size of rewarding male flowers (models) and unrewarding female flowers (mimics) affected how quickly bees learned both to recognize models and to reject mimics. Live unrewarding female flowers have 33% longer petals and have 31% greater surface area than live rewarding male flowers, which bees should easily discriminate. Yet while bees rapidly learned to reduce foraging effort on mimics, learning was not significantly affected by the degree to which flower size varied. Additionally, we found scant evidence that this was a result of bees altering response speed to maintain decision accuracy. Our study failed to provide evidence that flower size variation in intersexual floral mimicry systems exploits pollinator cognition, though we cannot rule out that other floral traits that are variable may be important. Furthermore, we propose that contrary to expectation, phenotypic variability in a Batesian mimicry system may not necessarily have significant effects on whether receivers effectively learn to discriminate models and mimics.
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Nevard L, Russell AL, Foord K, Vallejo-Marín M. Transmission of bee-like vibrations in buzz-pollinated plants with different stamen architectures. Sci Rep 2021; 11:13541. [PMID: 34188153 PMCID: PMC8241880 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-93029-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2021] [Accepted: 06/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
In buzz-pollinated plants, bees apply thoracic vibrations to the flower, causing pollen release from anthers, often through apical pores. Bees grasp one or more anthers with their mandibles, and vibrations are transmitted to this focal anther(s), adjacent anthers, and the whole flower. Pollen release depends on anther vibration, and thus it should be affected by vibration transmission through flowers with distinct morphologies, as found among buzz-pollinated taxa. We compare vibration transmission between focal and non-focal anthers in four species with contrasting stamen architectures: Cyclamen persicum, Exacum affine, Solanum dulcamara and S. houstonii. We used a mechanical transducer to apply bee-like vibrations to focal anthers, measuring the vibration frequency and displacement amplitude at focal and non-focal anther tips simultaneously using high-speed video analysis (6000 frames per second). In flowers in which anthers are tightly arranged (C. persicum and S. dulcamara), vibrations in focal and non-focal anthers are indistinguishable in both frequency and displacement amplitude. In contrast, flowers with loosely arranged anthers (E. affine) including those with differentiated stamens (heterantherous S. houstonii), show the same frequency but higher displacement amplitude in non-focal anthers compared to focal anthers. We suggest that stamen architecture modulates vibration transmission, potentially affecting pollen release and bee behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucy Nevard
- Biological & Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK.
| | - Avery L Russell
- Department of Biology, Missouri State University, Springfield, MO, 65897, USA
| | - Karl Foord
- Minnesota Extension, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, 55108, USA
| | - Mario Vallejo-Marín
- Biological & Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK
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Suarez AV, Scharf HM, Reeve HK, Hauber ME. Signal detection, acceptance thresholds and the evolution of animal recognition systems. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 375:20190464. [PMID: 32420845 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0464] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- A V Suarez
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 515 Morrill Hall, 505 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - H M Scharf
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 515 Morrill Hall, 505 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - H K Reeve
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - M E Hauber
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 515 Morrill Hall, 505 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
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