Divergent responses of two cereal aphids to previous infestation of their host plant

The role of pollen odour in resource location by the pollen beetle, Meligethes aeneus (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), a pollen-feeding insect regarded as a pest of oilseed rape, Brassica napus L., (Brassicaceae) crops, was investigated in a linear track olfactometer. Both male and female beetles were attracted to the odour of whole oilseed rape flowers, indicating that these insects can locate their host plants using floral odours as cues. The attractive odour of flowers was found to emanate from all floral parts tested: the petals/sepals, the anthers, and from pollen itself. Therefore, at least part of the attractive odour of oilseed rape flowers emanates from pollen. Beetles were more attracted to floral samples containing anthers than those without anthers when these odours were directly compared in a choice-test, and this indicates that there were detectable differences between them. Anthers and pollen may therefore release distinctive odours that are quantitatively and/or qualitatively different from the odour of the rest of the flower. These experiments support the hypothesis that pollen-seeking insects use pollen odour cues to locate this food source.     

A cDNA clone encoding an IgE-binding protein from Brassica anther has significant sequence similarity to Ca2+-binding proteins

Thirteen cDNA clones encoding IgE-binding proteins were isolated from expression libraries of anthers of Brassica rapa L. and B. napus L. using serum IgE from a patient who was specifically allergic to Brassica pollen. These clones were divided into two groups, I and II, based on the sequence similarity. All the group I cDNAs predicted the same protein of 79 amino acids, while the group II predicted a protein of 83 amino acids with microheterogeneity. Both of the deduced amino acid sequences contained two regions with sequence similarity to Ca²⁺-binding sites of Ca²⁺-binding proteins such as calmodulin. However flanking sequences were distinct from that of calmodulin or other Ca²⁺-binding proteins. RNA-gel blot analysis showed the genes of group I and II were preferentially expressed in anthers at the later developmental stage and in mature pollen. The recombinant proteins produced in Escherichia coli was recognized in immunoblot analysis by the IgE of a Brassica pollen allergic patient, but not by the IgE of a non-allergic patient. The cDNA clones reported here, therefore, represent pollen allergens of Brassica species.     

Somatic embryogenesis from stigmas and styles of grapevine

Summary An in vitro protocol has been developed for callus indiction, somatic embryogenesis, and plant regeneration from stigma-style culture of grapevine. Four different grapevine cultivars (Vitis vinifera L.: cvs. ‘Bombino Nero’, ‘Greco di Tufo’, ‘Merlot’, and ‘Sangiovese’) were tested. Exlants were cultured on Nitsch and Nitsch medium (NN) supplemented with various combinations of 6-benzylaminopurine (BA: 4.5 and 9.0 μM) and β-naphthoxyacetic acid (NOA; 5.0 and 9.9 μM). Sucrose (88 mM) was used as the carbon source. Somatic embryogenesis was induced within 3–7 mo. after culture initiation. Even though explants of different origin (unfertilized ovules and anthers) regenerated somatic embryos, the higher embryogenic potential was observed in stigma and style explants, with the exception of ‘Merlot’, which regenerated somatic embryos only from unfertilized ovules. The percentages of stigma-style explants producing somatic embryos was 7% in ‘Bombino Nero’ (cultured on NN medium supplemented 9.0 μM BA and 9.9 μM NOA). 14% in ‘Greco di Tufo’ (4.5 μM BA and 9.9 μM NOA), and 8% in ‘Sangiovese’ (9.0 μM BA and 9.9 μM NOA). The presence of growth regulators (BA and NOA) in the medium was essential for induction of somatic embryogenesis. Plants were regenerated on hormone-free NN medium containing 88 mM sucrose.     

Visits to Manipulated Flowers by Episyrphus balteatus (Diptera: Syrphidae): Partitioning the Signals of Petals and Anthers

In a number of previous studies attention has been directed to the selection on corolla dimensions by pollinator preference, but anthers may also be a signal. This experiment examined the relative importance of petals and anthers in the attraction of male Episyrphus balteatus (Diptera, Syrphidae) to individual oil-seed rape flowers (Bracus rapae oleifera). Rape flowers have four petals and six anthers. Nine treatments were created, of flowers with four, two, or zero petals and six, three, or zero anthers. Twenty males were tested for preference among the experimental flowers by recording the sequence and duration of their visits (which were all for feeding) to the flowers. The number of first visits and the duration of visits on each flower were significantly related to the number of anthers but not the number of petals. There was no correlation between petal area and pollen load of control flowers. It is suggested that Syrphidae may not always attend to petals, and variation in preference of different pollinator taxa should be taken into account when discussing the evolution of floral characters.     

Notes on the floral morphology in Vivianiaceae (Geraniales)

The functional floral morphology of the three genera of Vivianiaceae (= Ledocarpaceae, Geraniales), Rhynchotheca, Viviania and Balbisia, is compared. Likely pollination mechanisms are inferred from morphology and field observations. The flowers of Viviania are nectariferous and apparently zoophilous with nectar as the (primary) pollinator reward. Balbisia has pollen flowers without nectaries, its showy corolla indicates that it is also zoophilous with pollen as sole pollinator reward; bees were observed as flower visitors. One taxon (B. gracilis) may be anemophilous. Rhynchotheca has flowers without petals, with large, pendulous anthers and lacks nectaries. It shows synchronous mass flowering in its natural populations and is evidently anemophilous. A comparison with other Geraniales shows that nectar flowers with small anthers are likely the ancestral condition in Vivianiaceae. This suggests that the pollen flowers with larger anthers of Balbisia and Rhynchotheca may represent an apomorphic condition. The documentation of pollen flowers and anemophily in Vivianiaceae expands the range of known floral and pollination syndromes in Geraniales.     

The delimitation and taxonomic position of the tropical African generaLeptactina andDictyandra (Rubiaceae)

The closely related African generaDictyandra andLeptactina are redelimited. The two genera are distinguished by long tubular corolla-tubes with included anthers (Leptactina) vs. much shorter tubes with exserted anthers (Dictyandra), rather than—as previously thought—presence or absence of multilocellate anthers. The discovery of a new species (Dictyandra congolana from the Congo and W-Zaire) confirms this. It can be concluded, especially from comparative morphological studies of fruits and seeds, thatDictyandra andLeptactina are related toPavetta, Tarenna, Ixora, etc., i.e. the group of genera in theCoffeeae s.l. with terminal inflorescences. It is proposed that the tribePavetteae be revived to accomodate those genera.Presented at the meeting of May 4, 1983 of the Koninklijke Belgische Botanische Vereniging.     

Mobility of Impatiens capensis flowers: effect on pollen deposition and hummingbird foraging

Flexible pedicels are characteristic of birdpollinated plants, yet have received little attention in studies of hummingbird-flower interactions. A major implication of flexible pedicels is that flowers may move during pollination. We examined whether such motion affected interactions between ruby-throated hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) and jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) by increasing pollen deposition and by altering the effectiveness of nectar removal. For I. capensis, flower mobility enhanced pollen deposition: birds had significantly longer contact with anthers and more pollen deposited on their bills and crowns when foraging at mobile flowers than at flowers that had been experimentally immobilized. In contrast, flower mobility imposed a cost on hummingbirds by significantly increasing their handling times and reducing their extraction rates relative to their interactions with immobile flowers. Field observations indicated that the motion observed during hummingbird visits did not occur when bees (Bombus spp., Apis mellifera) visited I. capensis flowers, which suggests that the mobility of I. capensis flowers is an adaptation for hummingbird pollination.     

Flower variation and breeding systems in theCistaceae

Fourteen common southern Spanish species in theCistaceae were examined for quantitative variations in floral traits. These included the diameter of the corolla, number and size of anthers, number of ovules, and the size and shape of the gynoecium. The variables were in most instances positively correlated, species with larger flowers having more and larger anthers, more ovules, etc. Shrubs were observed to possess the largest, annuals the smallest, and subshrubs medium-sized flowers. Detailed observations of flower structure and function in a shrub (Cistus salvifolius), a spring-annual (Tuberaria guttata) and a winter-annual (T. inconspicua), revealed substantial variations in the breeding system. WhileC. salvifolius (and probably most woody species in this family) presents self-incompatibility, annual species ofTuberaria are self-compatible. In the studied population,T. inconspicua plants bore only reduced, cleistogamous flowers with no sign of a corolla.T. guttata has chasmogamous flowers that can facultatively self-pollinate.     

Glycerol stimulation of chlorophyll synthesis,embryogenesis, and carboxylation and sucrose metabolism enzymes in nucellar callus of ‘Hamlin’ sweet orange

Anthers of niger (Guizotia abyssinica. Cass) were inoculated onto five different media differing mainly in their inorganic and organic constituents and plant growth regulators to study their influence on callus induction (embryogenic/non-embryogenic) and plant regeneration. LS medium supplemented with 2 mg 1^-1 2,4-d, and 0.3 mg 1^-1 KN favoured the production of EC, whereas 2 mg 1^-1 BAP and 0.5 mg 1^-1 KN promoted the NEC from anthers. Different types of embryos were initiated upon transfer of EC to Chaleff's R-2 medium containing 2 mg 1^-1 NAA and 0.3 mg 1^-1 KN and/or 5 mg 1^-1 ABA. NEC when transferred onto the medium supplemented with 1 mg 1^-1 BAP and 0.1 mg 1^-1 NAA produced on an average 8–12 shoots/callus mass. Embryoids developed from the EC and shoots differentiated from NEC when cultured onto the Chaleff's R-2 and MS media respectively lacking growth regulators, they transformed into whole plantlets. The plantlets thus obtained were successfully hardened and grown to maturity for analysis of various plant characters.Abbreviations EC embryogenic callus - NEC non-embryogenic callus - 2,4-d 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid - NAA -naphthaleneacetic acid - ABA abscisic acid - BAP 6-benzylaminopurine - KN kinetin - MS Murashige and Skoog's medium - LS Linsmaier and Skoog's medium     

菜心组织培养技术初探

为建立菜心(Brassica campestris ssp.chinensis var.utilis)的快繁技术体系,以花药和子叶-子叶柄为外植体进行组织培养研究。结果表明,花药培养以选取未开放的花蕾为宜,且花柱略高于花瓣,此时小孢子多数处于单核靠边期。菜心花粉的萌发率不高,且秋冬季的花粉比夏季的萌发率高。菜心花药愈伤组织诱导培养基为:MS+1.0 mg L–1 KT+1.0 mg L–1 2,4-D+3%糖+6 g L–1琼脂+8%椰乳,不定芽诱导培养基为:MS+2.0 mg L–1 6-BA+0.5 mg L–1 NAA+1.0 g L–1活性炭+2%糖+6 g L–1琼脂或MS+2.0 mg L–1 ZT+0.5 mg L–1 IAA+0.5 g L–1 AgNO3+1.0 g L–1活性炭+2%糖+6 g L–1琼脂。花药培养的不定芽诱导率为36.7%,不定芽培养出现褐化现象,不能形成再生植株;而以子叶-子叶柄为外植体培养获得的植株再生率可达80%。     

Pollinator foraging behavior and pollen collection on the floral morphs of tristylous Pontederia cordata L.

Summary The foraging behavior of the pollinators of tristylous Pontederia cordata was studied to determine if differences in floral morphology would lead to preferential visitation of the floral morphs. Although nectar production is not different in the three floral morphs, differences in the production and size of pollen grains produced by the three anther levels results in the morphs offering variable amounts of resources to pollen-collecting insects. Bumblebees (Bombus spp.) and the solitary bee Melissodes apicata used P. cordata primarily as a nectar source and therefore did not seem to exhibit any morph preference. In contrast, honeybees visited flowers mainly for pollen and preferred to forage on long-level anthers of the short-and mid-styled morphs. An analysis of the composition of corbicular pollen loads indicated that, relative to the frequency of production in the population: 1) honeybees collected an excess of pollen from long-level anthers; 2) bumblebees collected the three types of pollen without any apparent preference; and 3) M. apicata preferentially collected pollen from the short-level anthers — presumably because their proboscides are modified by the presence of tiny hairs. The results suggest that P. cordata in Ontario is serviced by a diverse, unspecialized pollinator fauna which is not co-adapted to the tristylous floral polymorphism.     

Critical studies on the sexuality of southern Argentinian Ericaceae

Summary The family Ericaceae is considered to be mostly hermaphroditic and only in a few cases unisexual or dioecious. Five Argentinian species (Gaultheria antarctica Hook, f., G. caespitosa P. et E., G. phillyreaefolia (Pers.) Sleumer, G. tenuifolia (Phil.) Sleumer and Pernettya insana (Molina) Gunckel), previously described as hermaphroditic, were found by us to have two types of flowers: female and male. Female flowers have both a rudimentary androecium with stamens, in which the anthers are small, collapsed and without pollen grains or are reduced to filaments only, and a perfect gynoecium with well-developed ovules filling the carpel locules. The stigma is expanded and of the wet, papillate type, with copious to slight secretion. The stigma protrudes above the anthers. Male flowers have a well-developed androecium included within the corolla and a reduced gynoecium. Anthers are as long as the filaments, except in G. caespitosa. Pollen is shed as tetrads which are 100% viable. Ovule development ranges from total absence, passing through aborted ovules of various sizes to apparently normal ones. Stigmata are neither expanded nor papillate, except in Pernettya insana. Only in two species do the style and stigma extend beyond the level of the anthers. Heterostyly does not occur in any of the five species studied. Functional dioecy thus characterizes the five species considered and is reported for the first time in the genus Gaultheria.     

东川铁线莲, 云南毛茛科一新种

描述了自云南东北部发现的毛茛科铁线莲属一新种,东川铁线莲。此种由于其叶为单叶,萼片直立,雄蕊的花丝和花药均被短柔毛而与曲柄铁线莲近缘,与后者的区别在于其叶呈心状卵形,叶缘具粗牙齿,花序为二歧聚伞花序,以及花药顶端钝,不具短尖头。     

A new species of Solanum subgen. Leptostemonum (Solanaceae) from Argentina

Solanum homalospermum (Solanum subgen.Leptostemonum) is described and illustrated from central Argentina.Solanum homalospermum is characterized by having heteromorphic gynoecia, strongly flattened seeds, unequal anthers, and gemmiferous roots.     

Detection of the Nicotiana rustica chloroplast genome coding for the large subunit of Fraction I protein in a somatic hybrid in which only the N. tabacum chloroplast genome appeared to have been expressed

Nine plants were produced from anthers of a somatic hybrid which had been obtained by fusion of Nicotiana tabacum L. and N. rustica L. protoplants. As determined by electrofocusing, the Fraction I protein of the original somatic hybrid had largesubunit polypeptides exclusively of the N. tabacum type. Two of the plants regenerated from anthers contained Fraction-I-protein large subunits exclusively of the N. rustica type. Since each plant was regenerated from a single cell, the somatic hybrid must have had cells containing both the N. tabacum and N. rustica chloroplast genome although the latter was not expressed. Possibilities to account for this non-expression of a chloroplast genome in the somatic hybrid are discussed.     

Overexpression of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Zm401</Emphasis>, an mRNA-like RNA,has distinct effects on pollen development in maize

We previously identified a 0.7 Kb cDNA fragment of Zm401, a novel pollen-specific gene in maize (Zea mays). However, little information is known about the function of Zm401 in pollen development. The full-length of Zm401 cDNA was amplified by 5′ RACE and 3′ RACE and both sequence analysis and in vitro translation of Zm401 showed that it belonged to an mRNA-like non-coding gene. To analyze its possible biological roles in pollen development, the Zm401 cDNA was overexpressed in transgenic maize under the control of a pollen specific promoter Zm13 or a CaMV 35S promoter. RT-PCR and RNA gel blot analysis indicated that the expression level of Zm401 in leaves and anthers of transgenic plants was much higher than that of non-transformants. Compared with the non-transformed maize, transgenic maize showed distinct phenotypes, such as abnormal tassels and degenerate anthers. The histological observation showed that the development of pollen grains and anthers in transgenic plants were abnormal. These abnormalities include delayed degradation of tapetum, asynchronous fusion of pollen sacs, and aborted pollen grain development. Furthermore, the pollen viability in six transgenic plants ranged from 1.24% to 6.63%. The reduced pollen viability cosegregated with the transgene in a selfed progeny. These results suggest that Zm401 is involved in the regulation of pollen development. This article demonstrated Zm401, as a non-coding RNA, plays an essential role in pollen development. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

A comparison of in vitro flowers to in vivo flowers of haploid and diploidNicotiana tabacum L.

Thin cell layers (TCLs) were cultured from inflorescences of diploid (2n=4x=48) and haploid (2n=2x=24)Nicotiana tabacum L. "Samsun" and the subsequent flowers formed in vitro were then compared to in vivo flowers. Plants derived from TCLs possessed flowers that were typical of their seed or androgenetically-derived counterparts, whereas de novo flowers from TCLs were abnormal when compared to their counterparts. The TCLs of haploid plants produced more flower buds than diploid TCLs, and did so in a shorter period of time. In vitro flowers and anthers at both ploidy levels were considerably smaller than the in vivo flowers; in vitro flowers also had variable numbers of anthers and pistils. The embryogenic capacity of anthers taken from in vivo diploid flowers was 5 times greater than that of in vitro diploid or haploid anthers. In vivo haploid anthers produced no embryoids, whereas in vitro haploid anthers did produce embryoids. Observations of mitotic cells in root tips of plants derived from anther cultures of in vitro haploid flowers revealed a mixoploid nature. Diploid meiosis was regular and haploid meiosis was irregular regardless of the origin (in vitro or in vivo) of the flowers.Supported by state Hatch funds.     

东川铁线莲, 云南毛茛科一新种

描述了自云南东北部发现的毛茛科铁线莲属一新种,东川铁线莲。此种由于其叶为单叶,萼片直立,雄蕊的花丝和花药均被短柔毛而与曲柄铁线莲近缘,与后者的区别在于其叶呈心状卵形,叶缘具粗牙齿,花序为二歧聚伞花序,以及花药顶端钝,不具短尖头。     

Bee-pollination inHibbertia fasciculata (Dilleniaceae)

In direct contrast to mostHibbertia spp., the flowers ofH. fasciculata R. Br. ex D. C. bear only a single whorl of stamens and these stamens are arranged separately (not in typical bundles). The short filaments are appressed to the three carpels so that the inflated, porose and introrsive anthers form a centralized cluster obscuring the three ovaries. The three slender styles emerge at right angles from between the filaments. These styles curve upward and the stigmas form the three points of a triangle; each stigma is approximately one millimeter outside the centralized cluster of anthers. The flowers are nectarless and bear a bright yellow corolla. A pungent and unpleasant fragrance appears to be concentrated within the pollenkitt. When native bees attempt to forage for the pollen, within the cluster of anthers, the ventrally deposited loads of pollen, on the bees' abdomens, contact the outer triangle of stigmas. The major pollinators ofH. fasciculata are female bees in the polylectic genera,Lasioglossum (subgenusChilalictus, Halictidae) andLeioproctus (Colletidae). These bees carry an average of more than two pollen taxa when they are caught foraging onH. fasciculata. 78% of the 47 bees, captured onH. fasciculata carried the pollen from at least one sympatric taxon bearing nectariferous flowers (e.g., genera in theMyrtaceae, Compositae, andEpacridaceae). The pollination biology ofH. fasciculata is assessed in relation to the known radiation of bee-pollinated flowers in the genusHibbertia, and within theDilleniaceae s. l.