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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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2
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Wang Y, He Y, Liu Y, Wang D. Analyzing Volatile Compounds of Young and Mature Docynia delavayi Fruit by HS-SPME-GC-MS and rOAV. Foods 2022; 12:foods12010059. [PMID: 36613274 PMCID: PMC9818226 DOI: 10.3390/foods12010059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2022] [Revised: 12/18/2022] [Accepted: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
This study focused on the examination of the volatile compounds and fragrance properties of the young and mature fruit of Docynia delavayi. Headspace solid-phase microextraction combined with gas chromatography−mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS) was applied for identifying 42 volatile compounds, with young and mature fruit containing 36 and 42 compounds, respectively. Heat map cluster analysis, principal component analysis (PCA), orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), and independent sample t-testing were used to analyze sample differences. Based on a variable importance in projection (VIP) > 1 and p < 0.05, 23 key volatile compounds such as octanal, geranylacetone, butyl acetate, and dihydro-β-ionone were screened. β-Ionone and phenethyl acetate made the largest contribution to the aroma of D. delavayi after analyzing the relative odor activity value (rOAV) of the key volatile compounds and their aroma descriptors. Young D. delavayi fruit exhibited a prominent woody scent, while mature D. delavayi fruit had more intense floral and rosy aromas. The findings may lay a foundation for comprehensively developing and utilizing D. delavayi fruit.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yun Wang
- Key Laboratory of Forest Resources Conservation and Utilization in the Southwest Mountains of China Ministry of Education, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China
- Forest Resources Exploitation and Utilization Engineering Research Center for Grand Health of Yunnan Provincial Universities, Kunming 650224, China
| | - Yuheng He
- Key Laboratory of Forest Resources Conservation and Utilization in the Southwest Mountains of China Ministry of Education, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China
- Forest Resources Exploitation and Utilization Engineering Research Center for Grand Health of Yunnan Provincial Universities, Kunming 650224, China
| | - Yun Liu
- Forest Resources Exploitation and Utilization Engineering Research Center for Grand Health of Yunnan Provincial Universities, Kunming 650224, China
- Correspondence: (Y.L.); (D.W.); Tel.: +86-137-5943-1211 (Y.L.); +86-138-8891-5161 (D.W.)
| | - Dawei Wang
- Key Laboratory of Forest Resources Conservation and Utilization in the Southwest Mountains of China Ministry of Education, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China
- Correspondence: (Y.L.); (D.W.); Tel.: +86-137-5943-1211 (Y.L.); +86-138-8891-5161 (D.W.)
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3
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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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4
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DePasquale A, Hogan JD, Guadamuz Araya C, Dominy NJ, Melin AD. Aeroscapes and the Sensory Ecology of Olfaction in a Tropical Dry Forest. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.849281] [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
Aeroscapes—dynamic patterns of air speed and direction—form a critical component of landscape ecology by shaping numerous animal behaviors, including movement, foraging, and social and/or reproductive interactions. Aeroecology is particularly critical for sensory ecology: air is the medium through which many sensory signals and cues propagate, inherently linking sensory perception to variables such as air speed and turbulence. Yet, aeroscapes are seldom explicitly considered in studies of sensory ecology and evolution. A key first step towards this goal is to describe the aeroscapes of habitats. Here, we quantify the variation in air movement in two successional stages (early and late) of a tropical dry forest in Costa Rica. We recorded air speeds every 10 seconds at five different heights simultaneously. Average air speeds and turbulence increased with height above the ground, generally peaked midday, and were higher overall at the early successional forest site. These patterns of lower air speed and turbulence at ground level and overnight have important implications for olfactory foraging niches, as chemotaxis is most reliable when air movement is low and steady. We discuss our results in the context of possible selective pressures and observed variation in the foraging ecology, behaviors, and associated morphologies of resident vertebrates, with a focus on mammals. However, these data also have relevance to researchers studying socioecology, invertebrate biology, plant evolution, community ecology and more. Further investigation into how animals use different forest types, canopy heights and partition activities across different times of day will further inform our understanding of how landscape and sensory ecology are interrelated. Finally, we emphasize the timeliness of monitoring aeroecology as global wind patterns shift with climate change and human disturbance alters forest structure, which may have important downstream consequences for biological conservation.
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Fuzessy L, Silveira FAO, Culot L, Jordano P, Verdú M. Phylogenetic congruence between Neotropical primates and plants is driven by frugivory. Ecol Lett 2021; 25:320-329. [PMID: 34775664 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13918] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2021] [Revised: 10/15/2021] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Seed dispersal benefits plants and frugivores, and potentially drives co-evolution, with consequences to diversification evidenced for, e.g., primates. Evidence for macro-coevolutionary patterns in multi-specific, plant-animal mutualisms is scarce, and the mechanisms driving them remain unexplored. We tested for phylogenetic congruences in primate-plant interactions and showed strong co-phylogenetic signals across Neotropical forests, suggesting that both primates and plants share evolutionary history. Phylogenetic congruence between Platyrrhini and Angiosperms was driven by the most generalist primates, modulated by their functional traits, interacting with a wide-range of Angiosperms. Consistently similar eco-evolutionary dynamics seem to be operating irrespective of local assemblages, since co-phylogenetic signal emerged independently across three Neotropical regions. Our analysis supports the idea that macroevolutionary, coevolved patterns among interacting mutualistic partners are driven by super-generalist taxa. Trait convergence among multiple partners within multi-specific assemblages appears as a mechanism favouring these likely coevolved outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisieux Fuzessy
- Department of Biodiversity, Universidade Estadual Paulista, UNESP campus Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil.,CREAF, Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Foresta, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain.,Estación Biológica de Doñana, EBD-CSIC, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Fernando A O Silveira
- Department of Genetics, Ecology and Evolution, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Laurence Culot
- Department of Biodiversity, Universidade Estadual Paulista, UNESP campus Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Pedro Jordano
- Estación Biológica de Doñana, EBD-CSIC, Sevilla, Spain.,Facultad de Biología, Department Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Miguel Verdú
- Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificación, CSIC-UV-GV, Moncada, Valencia, Spain
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6
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Fruit secondary metabolites shape seed dispersal effectiveness. Trends Ecol Evol 2021; 36:1113-1123. [PMID: 34509316 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2021.08.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2021] [Revised: 08/05/2021] [Accepted: 08/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) play a central role in seed dispersal and fruit defense, with potential for large impacts on plant fitness and demography. Yet because PSMs can have multiple interactive functions across seed dispersal stages, we must systematically study their effects to determine the net consequences for plant fitness. To tackle this issue, we integrate the role of fruit PSMs into the seed dispersal effectiveness (SDE) framework. We describe PSM effects on the quantity and quality of animal-mediated seed dispersal, both in pairwise interactions and diverse disperser communities, as well as trade-offs that occur across dispersal stages. By doing so, this review provides structure to a rapidly growing field and yields insights into a critical process shaping plant populations.
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7
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Fruit Colour and Novel Mechanisms of Genetic Regulation of Pigment Production in Tomato Fruits. HORTICULTURAE 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/horticulturae7080259] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Fruit colour represents a genetic trait with ecological and nutritional value. Plants mainly use colour to attract animals and favour seed dispersion. Thus, in many species, fruit colour coevolved with frugivories and their preferences. Environmental factors, however, represented other adaptive forces and further diversification was driven by domestication. All these factors cooperated in the evolution of tomato fruit, one of the most important in human nutrition. Tomato phylogenetic history showed two main steps in colour evolution: the change from green-chlorophyll to red-carotenoid pericarp, and the loss of the anthocyanic pigmentation. These events likely occurred with the onset of domestication. Then spontaneous mutations repeatedly occurred in carotenoid and phenylpropanoid pathways, leading to colour variants which often were propagated. Introgression breeding further enriched the panel of pigmentation patterns. In recent decades, the genetic determinants underneath tomato colours were identified. Novel evidence indicates that key regulatory and biosynthetic genes undergo mechanisms of gene expression regulation that are much more complex than what was imagined before: post-transcriptional mechanisms, with RNA splicing among the most common, indeed play crucial roles to fine-tune the expression of this trait in fruits and offer new substrate for the rise of genetic variables, thus providing further evolutionary flexibility to the character.
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8
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Santana SE, Kaliszewska ZA, Leiser-Miller LB, Lauterbur ME, Arbour JH, Dávalos LM, Riffell JA. Fruit odorants mediate co-specialization in a multispecies plant-animal mutualism. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20210312. [PMID: 34375556 PMCID: PMC8354748 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.0312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2021] [Accepted: 07/20/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite the widespread notion that animal-mediated seed dispersal led to the evolution of fruit traits that attract mutualistic frugivores, the dispersal syndrome hypothesis remains controversial, particularly for complex traits such as fruit scent. Here, we test this hypothesis in a community of mutualistic, ecologically important neotropical bats (Carollia spp.) and plants (Piper spp.) that communicate primarily via chemical signals. We found greater bat consumption is significantly associated with scent chemical diversity and presence of specific compounds, which fit multi-peak selective regime models in Piper. Through behavioural assays, we found Carollia prefer certain compounds, particularly 2-heptanol, which evolved as a unique feature of two Piper species highly consumed by these bats. Thus, we demonstrate that volatile compounds emitted by neotropical Piper fruits evolved in tandem with seed dispersal by scent-oriented Carollia bats. Specifically, fruit scent chemistry in some Piper species fits adaptive evolutionary scenarios consistent with a dispersal syndrome hypothesis. While other abiotic and biotic processes likely shaped the chemical composition of ripe fruit scent in Piper, our results provide some of the first evidence of the effect of bat frugivory on plant chemical diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sharlene E. Santana
- Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | | | | | - M. Elise Lauterbur
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
| | - Jessica H. Arbour
- Department of Biology, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132, USA
| | - Liliana M. Dávalos
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
- Center for Inter-Disciplinary Environmental Research, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
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9
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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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10
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Bouvier JW, Emms DM, Rhodes T, Bolton JS, Brasnett A, Eddershaw A, Nielsen JR, Unitt A, Whitney SM, Kelly S. Rubisco Adaptation Is More Limited by Phylogenetic Constraint Than by Catalytic Trade-off. Mol Biol Evol 2021; 38:2880-2896. [PMID: 33739416 PMCID: PMC8233502 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msab079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Rubisco assimilates CO2 to form the sugars that fuel life on earth. Correlations between rubisco kinetic traits across species have led to the proposition that rubisco adaptation is highly constrained by catalytic trade-offs. However, these analyses did not consider the phylogenetic context of the enzymes that were analyzed. Thus, it is possible that the correlations observed were an artefact of the presence of phylogenetic signal in rubisco kinetics and the phylogenetic relationship between the species that were sampled. Here, we conducted a phylogenetically resolved analysis of rubisco kinetics and show that there is a significant phylogenetic signal in rubisco kinetic traits. We re-evaluated the extent of catalytic trade-offs accounting for this phylogenetic signal and found that all were attenuated. Following phylogenetic correction, the largest catalytic trade-offs were observed between the Michaelis constant for CO2 and carboxylase turnover (∼21-37%), and between the Michaelis constants for CO2 and O2 (∼9-19%), respectively. All other catalytic trade-offs were substantially attenuated such that they were marginal (<9%) or non-significant. This phylogenetically resolved analysis of rubisco kinetic evolution also identified kinetic changes that occur concomitant with the evolution of C4 photosynthesis. Finally, we show that phylogenetic constraints have played a larger role than catalytic trade-offs in limiting the evolution of rubisco kinetics. Thus, although there is strong evidence for some catalytic trade-offs, rubisco adaptation has been more limited by phylogenetic constraint than by the combined action of all catalytic trade-offs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacques W Bouvier
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Doctoral Training Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - David M Emms
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Timothy Rhodes
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Jai S Bolton
- Doctoral Training Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Amelia Brasnett
- Doctoral Training Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Alice Eddershaw
- Doctoral Training Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Jochem R Nielsen
- Doctoral Training Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Anastasia Unitt
- Doctoral Training Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Spencer M Whitney
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Steven Kelly
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
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11
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Whitehead SR, Schneider GF, Dybzinski R, Nelson AS, Gelambi M, Jos E, Beckman NG. Fruits, frugivores, and the evolution of phytochemical diversity. OIKOS 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.08332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Susan R. Whitehead
- Dept of Biological Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. Blacksburg VI USA
| | | | - Ray Dybzinski
- School of Environmental Sustainability, Loyola Univ. Chicago IL USA
| | - Annika S. Nelson
- Dept of Biological Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. Blacksburg VI USA
| | - Mariana Gelambi
- Dept of Biological Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. Blacksburg VI USA
| | - Elsa Jos
- Dept of Biology and Ecology Center, Utah State Univ. Logan UT USA
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