舌瓣鼠尾草退化杠杆雄蕊的相关花部特征及传粉机制

杠杆状雄蕊是鼠尾草属(Salvia)物种形成的关键性状, 背部杠杆传粉模式作为该属植物与传粉者精确互作的经典案例被广泛深入研究, 但是在该属物种中还存在许多非典型的杠杆结构和传粉模式。雄蕊结构及其与传粉者互作的多样性, 使得鼠尾草属成为研究植物传粉模式转变的模式材料, 舌瓣鼠尾草(S. liguliloba)即是一种具非典型的退化杠杆状雄蕊结构和传粉特征的代表性物种。该文着重对舌瓣鼠尾草的花器官结构和传粉特征进行研究, 并与具有短药隔杠杆的毛地黄鼠尾草 (S. digitaloides)做比较分析, 以期揭示退化杠杆可能的进化选择压力及其生态学意义。结果表明, 舌瓣鼠尾草具有较短的花冠、更窄的冠筒和较短的雄、雌蕊(p < 0.05)。退化萎缩的雄蕊下臂, 冠筒内的狭小空间限制了唯一的有效传粉昆虫——三条熊蜂(Bombus trifasciatus)推动雄蕊做杠杆状运动, 而是靠近花药直接利用头部完成授粉。相比经典的杠杆状雄蕊结构及其传粉过程, 小型花冠和退化杠杆雄蕊是对专一性和活跃度较高传粉昆虫的适应, 可能具有完全不同的进化途径和繁殖策略。     

鼠尾草属东亚分支的传粉模式

简述了世界鼠尾草属传粉模式多样性,从宏观层面对东亚鼠尾草属分布中心———中国的鼠尾草属传粉模式进行归纳与总结。研究补充了以往所缺乏的东亚鼠尾草属核心类群的雄蕊结构和传粉模式,并提出雄蕊结构的可能进化方向。根据花器官形态、内部结构、雄蕊特征、花粉接触传粉昆虫的部位,将中国分布的鼠尾草属植物划分为3种模式类型:TypeⅠ,短药隔杠杆传粉模式(short-lever type),主要发生在弧隔鼠尾草亚属(subg.Salvia Benth.),其雄蕊药隔短,属原始结构类型;TypeⅡ,长药隔杠杆传粉模式(long-lever type),主要发生在荔枝草亚属(subg.Sclarea Benth.),雄蕊药隔明显伸长,是典型的背部杠杆传粉结构;TypeⅢ,退化杠杆传粉模式(degraded-lever type),主要发生在鼠尾草亚属(subg.Allagospadonopsis Briq.),花冠筒变短变窄,雄蕊下臂明显退化,传粉者无需进入冠筒即可取食花蜜,花粉触碰昆虫头部,进而杠杆作用弱化。研究表明,鼠尾草属传粉模式的进化趋向于提高传粉者的专一性,同时保证传粉过程的有效性、精确性和忠实性,推测具有退化雄蕊下臂的TypeⅢ模式可能更为进化。比较美洲和地中海2个进化分支的雄蕊结构和进化趋势,东亚多样性中心可能是一个独立的进化分支。毫无疑问,雄蕊结构与花器官和传粉功能高度相关,是适应传粉者的进化表型,它的进化对东亚分支的物种辐射与多样性形成可能具有关键作用。     

鼠尾草属不同物种的雄蕊杠杆机制对传粉者空间变异的进化响应

被子植物虫媒传粉植物的物种分化通常被认为是花性状响应传粉环境(传粉者)的空间变异而发生适应性分化的结果。通过对鼠尾草属(Salvia) 3个物种(共4个居群)传粉互作系统的比较, 探索了花性状对不同传粉环境的进化响应。结果表明: 各居群的传粉者组成、主要传粉者类型及其大小各不相同, 杠杆状雄蕊及相关花部性状大小在不同居群间具有显著差异; 各居群均表现出腹部传粉和背部传粉2种传粉模式, 但背部传粉仍然是最有效的传粉方式; 居群间杠杆状雄蕊长度与传粉者体长表现出极显著的正相关, 然而花冠长与传粉者体长表现出负相关; 花冠口高度和柱头高度与传粉者胸厚也表现出一定的协同变异。鼠尾草属植物的杠杆状雄蕊及相关花部性状在传粉系统的进化过程中表现出高度的可塑性, 表明雄蕊杠杆传粉机制对传粉环境的变异非常敏感, 在该属植物的物种分化过程中具有关键作用。     

荫生鼠尾草的雄蕊变异知多少

为适应昆虫传粉的鼠尾草属植物,在其长期的演化过程中,它们的雄蕊均形成了一种独特的杠杆结构,这已是人们早就知晓的事实。生长在北京郊区小龙门地区的荫生鼠尾草(Salivio umbratica),它与其他鼠尾草属植物一样,在雄蕊结构上与传粉的昆虫之间相互形成了巧妙的适应关系。     

萌生鼠尾草的雄蕊变异知多少

为适应昆虫传粉的鼠尾草属植物,在其长期的演化过程中,它们的雄蕊均形成了一种独特的杠杆结构,这已是人们早就知晓的事实。生长在北京郊区小龙门地区的荫生鼠尾草(Salvio umbratica),它与其他鼠尾草属植物一样,在雄蕊结构上与传粉的昆虫之间相互形成了巧妙的适应关系。     

被子植物退化雄蕊的功能类型及其意义

退化雄蕊是指没有花药或花药不可育的雄蕊,发现于被子植物32.5%的科以及54.4%的属中,它们在形态和生化组成上都与可育雄蕊有着显著区别。虽然丢失了产生可育花粉的能力、无法发挥雄性繁殖功能,某些退化雄蕊在进化过程中重新获得了一些有助于植物繁殖成功的新功能。本文将这些具有功能的退化雄蕊细分为8类:(1)信号型;(2)报酬型;(3)欺骗传粉型;(4)辅助传粉昆虫在花内活动;(5)辅助授粉;(6)协助花粉二次呈现;(7)保护其他花结构;(8)避免自交。退化雄蕊作为花结构的一部分,其功能集中于促进植物的繁殖成功,主要通过与传粉昆虫的相互作用来提高传粉效率。此外,某些植物的退化雄蕊也可能同时具有多种功能,并且其功能的强弱与传粉者的种类、行为、大小和频率相关。正确评估退化雄蕊对植物繁殖成功的影响,需要多学科手段来系统的研究,以便能更加深入的理解不同近缘关系的物种间退化雄蕊功能的差异,揭示退化雄蕊在被子植物系统进化中的意义。     

高山物种栗色鼠尾草(Salvia castanea Diels)访花昆虫多样性与传粉行为变化

唇形科鼠尾草属是世界性分布、物种多样性丰富的大类群,具有独特的传粉模式和多样化的生态类型及繁殖策略,以往对鼠尾草属的花结构和雄蕊杠杆的生态功能、雄蕊杠杆机制对传粉者空间变异的进化响应和表型选择等方面已有较深入的研究,但至今对分布于不同区系代表性物种的传粉者组成、访花行为和繁育系统特征仍知之甚少。对分布于喜马拉雅东段至横断山高海拔地区栗色鼠尾草的传粉生态、交配系统和繁殖特性进行了研究,分析了2014年至2016年的年际间、2014年晴天和阴雨天的传粉者组成和传粉行为变化,探讨了这些变化对繁殖成功的影响。研究结果表明：3年共发现栗色鼠尾草有9种访花昆虫,传粉者组成及其行为变化较为明显。2014年有桔尾熊蜂Bombus friseanus、灰熊蜂B.grahami、圣熊蜂B.religiosus和中华蜜蜂Apis cerana 4种有效传昆虫,2015年仅有桔尾熊蜂是有效传粉者,而2016年的有效传粉昆虫改变为灰熊蜂和圣熊蜂。栗色鼠尾草的盗蜜现象较为普遍,主要盗蜜昆虫为灰熊蜂和桔尾熊蜂。桔尾熊蜂访花行为的年际变化较大,受天气条件的影响明显,同时其有效传粉行为可能显著影响了灰熊蜂的盗蜜行为。栗色鼠尾草的繁育系统为专性异交,主要依靠传粉者进行授粉,缺少传粉者时低程度的主动自花授粉可为其提供繁殖保障,且没有花粉限制和近交衰退。研究揭示了在高海拔地区,多变的天气条件可能显著影响着鼠尾草属植物的传粉者种类组成、访花行为和传粉效率,进而影响植物的繁殖成效和种群稳定。有效传粉频率是保证栗色鼠尾草较高自然结实率的主要因素,在一定程度上,盗蜜强度对繁殖成功具有中性的影响。本研究结果为阐明高山鼠尾草物种的繁殖如何受气候环境变化的影响,以及保证繁殖成功的可能策略奠定基础。     

荔枝草花的形态发生

在体式显微镜系统观察的基础上,对唇形科鼠尾草属植物荔枝草(Salvia plebeiaR.Br.)的花发育过程进行了扫描电镜观察.发现荔枝草的轮伞花序由多数交互对生的聚伞花序单位组成,花器官发育形式为向心式",各部分花器官从外向内依次形成;共形成4个雄蕊原基,其中2个雄蕊原基在形成后不再发育,另2个雄蕊原基每个均发育出1可育药室和1不育药室,不育药室膨大连接,并在花成熟之前参与组成特殊杠杆结构;子房四深裂"的形成实际是由4个原基分别发育,而后相互靠拢而成.     

神奇的“扳机”

大多数有花植物用艳丽的花瓣来吸引传粉者,然而竹芋科植物的花瓣并不显著,颜色暗淡,退化成带状。那么,它用什么来吸引传粉者呢？原来,竹芋科鲜艳的退化雄蕊部分替代了真正花瓣的作用。竹芋科植物的雄蕊是由退化雄蕊和可育雄蕊两部分组成的,退化雄蕊不仅结构功能复杂,     

圆瓣姜花花部维管束解剖及其系统学意义

用石蜡切片技术研究了圆瓣姜花(Hedychium forrestii Diels)的花部维管束系统解剖结构,探讨了同源异形的各轮花器官维管束来源和属性.结果表明,圆瓣姜花的2枚花瓣状结构为外轮雄蕊成员;唇瓣是三重结构,其中脉源十1枚外轮雄蕊维管束系统,两侧脉源于2枚内轮雄蕊维管束系统;上位腺体为隔膜蜜腺.本研究支持Thompson和Gregory关于姜科唇瓣是三重结构的观点;与其他姜科植物一样,圆瓣姜花子房延长部形成的上位腺体属于隔膜蜜腺而不是雄蕊成员.与已研究过的姜花属植物比较,姜花属花器官维管束系统的来源与走向是一致的,同源异形现象在姜花属植物花的进化中扮演极为重要的角色,可为解释花器官属性提供重要线索.     

Separable roles of UFO during floral development revealed by conditional restoration of gene function

The UNUSUAL FLORAL ORGANS (UFO) gene is required for several aspects of floral development in Arabidopsis including specification of organ identity in the second and third whorls and the proper pattern of primordium initiation in the inner three whorls. UFO is expressed in a dynamic pattern during the early phases of flower development. Here we dissect the role of UFO by ubiquitously expressing it in ufo loss-of-function flowers at different developmental stages and for various durations using an ethanol-inducible expression system. The previously known functions of UFO could be separated and related to its expression at specific stages of development. We show that a 24- to 48-hour period of UFO expression from floral stage 2, before any floral organs are visible, is sufficient to restore normal petal and stamen development. The earliest requirement for UFO is during stage 2, when the endogenous UFO gene is transiently expressed in the centre of the wild-type flower and is required to specify the initiation patterns of petal, stamen and carpel primordia. Petal and stamen identity is determined during stages 2 or 3, when UFO is normally expressed in the presumptive second and third whorl. Although endogenous UFO expression is absent from the stamen whorl from stage 4 onwards, stamen identity can be restored by UFO activation up to stage 6. We also observed floral phenotypes not observed in loss-of-function or constitutive gain-of-function backgrounds, revealing additional roles of UFO in outgrowth of petal primordia.     

Floral development and morphology of Vochysiaceae. II. The position of the single fertile stamen

A conspicuous feature of Vochysiaceae flowers is their single fertile stamen. In some genera, the stamen is in front of a petal, whereas in others it is in front of a sepal. This difference has been attributed to two independent reductions, which implies the stamen is not homologous across the family. The observation that genera with an antesepalous stamen have only one petal, whereas those with an antepetalous stamen have three or five petals, led us to the hypothesis that in all genera the stamen arises in an antepetalous position, but that it is displaced during development in single-petaled taxa. We examined developing buds of five genera using scanning electron microscopy and serial sectioning and conclude that the stamen in all genera is fundamentally antepetalous. The stamen is not displaced. The petal, however, appears to be displaced in some genera. Further, the position of the fertile stamen in Erisma has been misinterpreted. We discuss the evolution of the androecium in this family in a phylogenetic context and consider the significance of symmetry and of loss vs. suppression in the development of Vochysiaceae flowers.     

Molecular analysis of early rice stamen development using organ-specific gene expression profiling

Elucidating the regulatory mechanisms of plant organ formation is an important component of plant developmental biology and will be useful for crop improvement applications. Plant organ formation, or organogenesis, occurs when a group of primordial cells differentiates into an organ, through a well-orchestrated series of events, with a given shape, structure and function. Research over the past two decades has elucidated the molecular mechanisms of organ identity and dorsalventral axis determinations. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying the successive processes. To develop an effective approach for studying organ formation at the molecular level, we generated organ-specific gene expression profiles (GEPs) reflecting early development in rice stamen. In this study, we demonstrated that the GEPs are highly correlated with early stamen development, suggesting that this analysis is useful for dissecting stamen development regulation. Based on the molecular and morphological correlation, we found that over 26 genes, that were preferentially up-regulated during early stamen development, may participate in stamen development regulation. In addition, we found that differentially expressed genes during early stamen development are clustered into two clades, suggesting that stamen development may comprise of two distinct phases of pattern formation and cellular differentiation. Moreover, the organ-specific quantitative changes in gene expression levels may play a critical role for regulating plant organ formation. Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available for this article at Xiao-Chun Lu, Hua-Qin Gong contributed equally to this work.     

Pollination adaptations of group-by-group stamen movement in a meadow plant with temporal floral closure

Floral sexual organ (stamen and pistil) movements are selective adaptations that have different functions in male-female reproduction and the evolution of flowering plants. However, the significance of stamen movements in the spatial–temporal function and separation of male and female organs has not been experimentally determined in species exhibiting floral temporal closure. The current study investigated the role of slow stamen (group-by-group) movement in male-female sexual function, and the effect of stamen movement on pollen removal, male-male and male-female interference, and mating patterns of Geranium pratense, a plant with temporal floral closure. This species uses stamen group-by-group movement and therefore anther-stigma spatial–temporal separation. Spatial separation (two whorls of stamen and pistil length) was shown to be stronger than temporal separation. We found that stamen movements to the center of the flower increase pollen removal, and the most common pollinators visited more frequently and for longer durations during the male floral stage than during the female floral stage. Petal movements increased both self-pollen deposition rate and sexual interference in G. pratense. The fruit and seed set of naturally and outcrossed pollinated flowers were more prolific than those of self-pollinated flowers. Group-by-group stamen movement, dehiscence of stamens, pistil movement, and male-female spatial–temporal functional separation of G. pratense before floral temporal closure may prevent male-female and stamen-stamen interference and pollen discounting, and may increase pollen removal and cross-pollination.     

红花玉兰MwAG基因在花发育不同时期的表达

MwAG基因是调控红花玉兰(Magnolia wufengensis)雌雄蕊发育的关键转录因子。采用半定量RT-PCR、Northern blot杂交和实时荧光定量PCR技术检测了MwAG基因在红花玉兰花芽形态分化几个关键时期表达的组织特异性和表达水平的变化。研究结果表明, MwAG基因仅在红花玉兰雌雄蕊中表达, 而在幼叶、外轮花被和内轮花被中不表达。在花器官形态分化过程中, MwAG基因在雌雄蕊原基分化期和雌雄蕊成熟期均维持在一个较高的水平, 且在雄蕊中的表达波峰早于雌蕊, 这与雌雄蕊形态分化的时间基本吻合; 在花芽分化早期, 相同大小的花芽, 瓣数越多, MwAG基因在雌雄蕊中的表达量越低, 其结果与不同瓣数雌雄蕊分化的时间一致, 即瓣数越多, 雌雄蕊分化越晚。     

Quantitative genetics of stamen number in the selfing Scleranthus annuus (Caryophyllaceae)

Heritability of stamen fertility—different scores were given to sterile stamens developed to different degrees as well as to fertile stamens with one or two pollen sacs—was studied in Scleranthus annuus (Caryophyllaceae), a selling annual that shows extensive phenotypic variation in stamen fertility. Variation within and among 172 maternal families, derived from plants representing 20 natural populations from southern Sweden, was used to estimate heritabilities of stamen fertility for stamens/staminoids at each of the ten stamen positions in the flower. The hierarchical design of the study allowed partitioning of variation at four levels of organization using nested analysis of variance. Heritabilities ranged from 0.631 to 0.714 for stamen positions in the outer whorl of stamens and from 0.235 to 0.555 for positions in the inner whorl. When stamen fertility was pooled across all stamen positions of a flower, the heritability was 0.807. The nested ANOVA indicated that stamen positions in the outer whorl have comparatively higher proportions of among-family and among-population variation than those in the inner whorl. Furthermore, highly significant genetic correlations exist among stamen positions within the inner whorl and among positions within the outer whorl, but not so between positions from each of the two whorls.     

Gibberellin regulates Arabidopsis floral development via suppression of DELLA protein function

The phytohormone gibberellin (GA) regulates the development and fertility of Arabidopsis flowers. The mature flowers of GA-deficient mutant plants typically exhibit reduced elongation growth of petals and stamens. In addition, GA-deficiency blocks anther development, resulting in male sterility. Previous analyses have shown that GA promotes the elongation of plant organs by opposing the function of the DELLA proteins, a family of nuclear growth repressors. However, it was not clear that the DELLA proteins are involved in the GA-regulation of stamen and anther development. We show that GA regulates cell elongation rather than cell division during Arabidopsis stamen filament elongation. In addition, GA regulates the cellular developmental pathway of anthers leading from microspore to mature pollen grain. Genetic analysis shows that the Arabidopsis DELLA proteins RGA and RGL2 jointly repress petal, stamen and anther development in GA-deficient plants, and that this function is enhanced by RGL1 activity. GA thus promotes Arabidopsis petal, stamen and anther development by opposing the function of the DELLA proteins RGA, RGL1 and RGL2.     

三白草科花部发育及其系统学意义

本研究从比较三白草科属间小花个体发育及分析花器官数量变异入手,探寻花器官在发生顺序、数目变化及排列方式等方面的演化趋势,揭示系统发育在个体发育中一定程度重现的事实及属间的进化关系。结果简述如下:首先,雄蕊和心皮发生顺序由中部优先演化到两侧优先。其次,由于远中雄蕊和心皮经历了从发育延迟、生长减缓到最终消失的历程,中部雄蕊和心皮由成对演化为单生。此外,两侧生雄蕊对由各自独立的原基发生演化到共同原基发生或减化为1枚,假银莲花属近中1枚雄蕊原基二裂成1对,蕺菜属3枚心皮发生于一环状共同原基等,都是该科花器官演化的重要事实并可归结为融合、减化和复化的结果。文章根据花器官的演化趋势及过渡类型的剖析,论述了三白草科属间的系统进化关系。