塞威氏苹果Malus sieversii（Ldb.）Roem花粉形态的研究

对采自75个不同居群的塞威氏苹果（Malus sieversii (Ldb.)Roem）的花粉形态进行了观察。结果表明：塞威氏苹果花粉萌发孔为三孔沟类型,外壁具条纹状纹饰,条纹间常具小穴或穿孔。根据外壁纹饰的差异将塞威氏苹果花粉划分为六个类型。同时根据花粉资料,探讨了塞威氏苹果的某些分类学和系统学问题。     

山丹不同居群花粉形态研究

为掌握山丹居群在孢粉学方面的遗传多样性,在扫描电子显微镜下对25个居群的山丹花粉进行了形态观察,结果表明:山丹花粉粒形态为单花粉粒,极面观为椭圆体,具单萌发沟。不同居群的花粉粒在大小、网眼直径、萌发沟宽、P/E值和外壁纹饰等方面存在不同程度的差异,且居群间花粉性状的变异大于居群内的变异,最大变异系数达25.52%。     

Pollen–pollen interactions in Betula pendula in vitro

Direct pollen interactions, as well as interactions mediated by a recipient, can have a remarkable influence on pollen fertilization ability. Under conditions of pollen competition it could be advantageous if pollen grains interfered with the germination of other pollen. The aim of this study was to find out if there are direct negative or positive pollen–pollen interactions between pollen grains from genetically slightly different donors. The in vitro germinability of the pollen from several Betula pendula Roth clones was investigated. The pollen interactions between the clones were examined pairwise by using equal pollen mixtures. In three of the eight cases the germination percentage of the pollen mixture was significantly higher than the average germination percentage of the separate clones that formed the mixture, which indicates some type of interaction between the pollen populations. We found only positive interactions between the pollen of clones. This study also documented density-dependent germination of pollen grains in vitro (=pollen population effect). Adding an aqueous pollen extract to the incubation medium increased the germination percentages of poorly germinating pollen and small pollen populations. Germination-stimulating effects were found to exist both with fresh and dead pollen. Such direct pollen–pollen interactions could be explained by specific water-soluble substances diffusing from pollen grains.     

Increased selfing and correlated paternity in a small population of a predominantly outcrossing conifer, Pinus sylvestris

Outcrossing rate, the rates of ovule and seed abortion, and levels of correlated paternity were estimated in a small population of Pinus sylvestris, a predominantly outcrossing conifer, and were compared with estimates from two widely dispersed woodlands of the same species, showing a range of densities. On average, seed trees of the small population showed an eight-fold higher selfing rate (25 vs. 3%) and a 100-fold greater incidence of correlated paternity (19.6 vs. 0.2%) than did trees from the large populations. No evidence was found of pollen limitation within the remnant stand, as suggested by ovule abortion rates. Investigation of the mating patterns in the small population, based on the unambiguous genealogy of 778 open-pollinated seeds, showed a large departure from random mating. Only 8% of the possible mating pairs within the stand were observed. Correlated paternity rate within a maternal sibship was negatively associated (rs = -0.398, P < 0.050) with the distance to the nearest neighbour, and shared paternity among maternal sibships was negatively correlated (rs = -0.704, P < 0.001) with the distance between seed trees. Numerical simulations, based on the estimated individual pollen dispersal kernel, suggest that restricted dispersal might have been the key factor affecting mating patterns in the small population and, together with low population density, may account for the observed mating system variation between the small and the large populations. The results of this study show that a severe size reduction may substantially affect the mating system of a wind-pollinated, typically outcrossed plant species.     

Pollen limitation in invasive populations of Solanum rostratum and its relationship to population size

Aims Small plant populations may be more likely to suffer more severe pollen limitation due to the lower number of potential mates or suitable pollinators. For invasive species, this phenomenon may be more common when an invading population colonizes a new habitat. Here, we investigated whether pollen limitation occurs in invasive populations of Solanum rostratum during its invasion from North America to China and evaluated the patterns between pollen limitation and population size.Methods Pollen addition experiments were performed on six invasive populations of S. rostratum. By comparing fruit set and seed production with open pollination treatment, we calculated the index of pollen limitation and regressed it to population size and density.Important findings Among the six sampled invasive populations of S. rostratum, the fruit set and seed production per fruit were 0.346±0.014 and 52.38±9.29, respectively, with open pollination treatment and 0.572±0.022 and 56.28±10.79, respectively, with pollen addition treatment. Compared with open pollination, pollen addition significantly increased fruit set and seed production by 65.3 and 7.4%, respectively. The standardized index of pollen limitation ranged from 0.022 to 0.125, with an average of 0.065, suggesting that invasive populations of S. rostratum do suffer from pollen limitation. The index of pollen limitation was negatively correlated with population size, which is consistent with the pattern that smaller populations suffer from more severe pollen limitation.     

胭脂花野生居群花粉形态多样性研究

胭脂花是分布于中国北部的报春花科报春花属花柱二型植物,为了阐明胭脂花花粉形态的多样性,对胭脂花分布范围内的7个野生居群的花粉形态进行了测定。结果表明,胭脂花花粉属N3P4C5型,极面观多为三角形,具三孔沟,少数为四边形,具4孔沟;短花柱植株的花粉粒较大(16.53×17.58μm),花粉粒外壁粗糙,表面纹饰多,网眼大;长花柱植株的花粉粒较小(12.95×13.72μm),花粉粒外壁较光滑,表面纹饰少,网眼小。不同居群间花粉粒在大小、网眼直径、外壁纹饰等方面存在显著差异,花粉形态变异系数在4.88%~35.48%之间;短花柱类型各居群的平均变异系数为16.18%,居群间差异较大,其中庞泉沟居群变异系数最大(24.05%),海坨山居群最小(10.13%);长花柱类型各居群的平均变异系数为14.89%,庞泉沟居群的变异系数最大(19.75%),五台山与海坨山居群最小(12.50%),长花柱类型的花粉性状比短花柱植株更为稳定。UPGMA聚类分析发现,7个居群聚为两大类,除庞泉沟居群外,其他居群聚为一组,地理距离相近的居群一般聚在一起。研究结果为胭脂花种质资源遗传多样性及育种研究提供了依据。     

种子与花粉的随机迁移对植物群体遗传结构分化的影响

将Ｗｒｉｇｈｔ的经典岛屿模型拓广到植物群体上,同时考虑了含有花粉和种子随机迁移的影响。并给出了３种不同遗传方式的基因（双亲遗传,父本和母本遗传）频率的期望均值和方差。理论结果证明花粉或种子的随机迁移可增加基因频率方差,其幅度取决于迁移率和迁移基因频率的方差。同绝对迁移率一样,花粉和种子的迁移率方差及迁移基因频率的方差对群体遗传结构的分化有着同样的重要。一个重要结论就是花粉或种子的随机迁移率和随机迁     

SEX-RATIO BIAS WITH ASYMMETRIC EXCHANGE OF POLLEN BETWEEN DEMES

In a patch of hermaphroditic plants, with a low level of pollen migration between patches, a prevailing wind creates a gradient, within the patch, in the strength of local competition among pollen for reproductive success. This leads to a sex ratio gradient, with a male (pollen) bias in downwind individuals, which can be quite strong even for large patches. The effect can be understood as follows: downwind individuals have relatively low reproductive value and respond by putting more resources into the gamete (pollen) with the best long-range (extra-patch) reproductive success.     

Evaluating the influence of different aspects of habitat fragmentation on mating patterns and pollen dispersal in the bird-pollinated Banksia sphaerocarpa var. caesia

Habitat fragmentation can significantly affect mating and pollen dispersal patterns in plant populations, although the differential effects of the various aspects of fragmentation are poorly understood. In this study, we used eight microsatellite loci to investigate the effect of fragmentation on the mating system and pollen dispersal within one large and eight small population remnants of Banksia sphaerocarpa var. caesia, a bird-pollinated shrub in the southern agricultural region of Western Australia. The large population had a much larger neighbourhood size and lower selfing rate, maternal pollen pool differentiation and within-plot mean pollen dispersal distance than the small populations. Outcrossing was consistently high and ranged from 85.7% ± 2.6 to 98.5% ± 0.9, and mating patterns suggested nearest-neighbour pollination. Pollen immigration into small populations ranged from 2.8% ± 1.8 to 16.5% ± 3.2. Using the small populations, we tested for correlations between various fragmentation variables and mating system and pollen dispersal parameters. We found significant negative linear relationships between population isolation and outcrossing rate; population shape and neighbourhood size; and conspecific density and mean pollen dispersal distance. There were significant positive linear relationships between population shape and pollen pool differentiation and between population size and number of different fathers per seed crop. Our results suggest that birds may use a series of fragmented populations as a vegetation corridor while foraging across the landscape and that population connectivity is a critical determinant of pollinator visitation. Our results also suggest that the effect of a linear population shape on the mating system and pollen dispersal is routinely underestimated.     

Ancient DNA from pollen: a genetic record of population history in Scots pine

Assessments of plant population dynamics in space and time have depended on dated records of fossil pollen synthesized on a subcontinental scale. Genetic analyses of extant populations have revealed spatial relationships that are indicative of past spatial dynamics, but lack an explicit timescale. Synthesis of these data requires genetic analyses from abundant dated fossil material, and this has hitherto been lacking. Fossil pollen is the most abundant material with which to fill this data gap. Here we report genetic analyses of fossil pollen retrieved from Holtjärnen postglacial lake sediment in Sweden and show that plastid DNA is recoverable from Scots Pine and Norway spruce pollen grains that are 100 and 10 000 years old. By sequencing clones from two short plastid PCR products and by using multiple controls we show that the ancient sequences were endogenous to the fossil grains. Comparison of ancient sequences and those obtained from an extant population of Scots pine establishes the first genetic link between extant and fossil samples in this species, providing genetic continuity through time. The finding of one common haplotype present in modern, 100-year old and 10 000-year old samples suggests that it may have persisted near Holtjärnen throughout the postglacial period. This retrieval of ancient DNA from pollen has major implications for plant palaeoecology in conifer species by allowing direct estimates of population dynamics in space and time.     

THE INFLUENCE OF POPULATION SIZE AND ISOLATION ON GENE FLOW BY POLLEN IN SILENE ALBA

In a series of experiments conducted over two seasons, we used arrays of experimental populations to examine the effects of flower number and distance between patches on gene flow by pollen. For this study we used the dioecious, short-lived perennial plant Silene alba (Caryophyllaceae). This species lives in disturbed roadside and agricultural habitats and displays a weedy population dynamic with high colonization and extinction rates. The motivation for the study was to understand what factors may be influencing genetic connectedness among newly colonized populations within a regional metapopulation. By using experimental populations composed of genotypes homozygous at a diagnostic locus, it was possible to identify explicitly pollen movement into a focal patch as a function of flower number and distance to the nearest neighboring patch. Overall, the mean immigration rate (measured as the fraction of seeds sired by males outside the focal patch) at 20 m was just over 47%, whereas at 80 m immigration rates were less than 6%. In addition, by knowing the context in which each of these gene-flow events occurred, it was possible to understand some of the factors that influenced the exchange of genes. Both the number of flowers in the focal population (target) and in the neighboring populations (source) had a significant effect on the frequency of gene flow. Our experimental data also demonstrate that factors that influence gene flow at one spatial scale may not act in the same way at another. Specifically, the influence of target size and the relative size of the target and source patches on rates of gene flow depended on whether the patches were separated by 20 m or 80 m. These data suggest that the patterns of gene flow within a metapopulation system can be complex and may vary within a growing season.     

Small populations are mate-poor but pollinator-rich in a rare, self-incompatible plant, Hymenoxys herbacea (Asteraceae)

If pollinators or compatible mates are scarce, plants in small populations may be pollen-limited and consequently produce fewer offspring. However, determining the relative importance of the genetic vs ecological mechanisms limiting successful pollination is challenging. We explored the relationships among population size, population connectivity, pollinator visitation, allozyme diversity, mate availability (measured as percent compatible crosses among plants within a population), and pollen limitation in 12 populations (N = 39-885,274) of the self-incompatible plant Hymenoxys herbacea in Ontario, Canada. Unexpectedly, small populations had more insect flower visitors per capitulum than large populations. Consistent with the effects of genetic drift, both allozyme polymorphism and mate availability decreased with decreasing population size. Pollen limitation was low and significant in only one population and could not be predicted based on knowledge of population size, connectivity, compatible mate availability, or pollinator visitation. Population size had detectable effects on both pollinator activity and mate availability. However, because the effect of population size was complementary on these two potentially limiting mechanisms, this threatened plant was rarely pollen-limited.     

The collection of pollen by bees

Bees require pollen for their reproduction and pollen comprises the basic larval food for bees. Most bees acquire pollen passively during flower visitation, but female bees may also collect pollen actively with the aid of various structural and behavioral adaptations. Most bees have evolved adaptations to concentrate pollen into discrete loads and transport pollen back to their nests. The various structural and behavioral adaptations of female bees for acquiring and transporting pollen are the basis of this review.     

燕山南部花粉散布特征

燕山南部花９粉用布特性研究表明,空气中的花粉反映的是植物花期的季节性变化,表 粉是植物多年花粉散布的混合,冲积物花粉与空气中和表土花粉显著不同,是取样点上游表土花粉的混合,与取样点周围植被关系较小。因此,根据冲积物花粉恢复古植被,反映的是整个流域的植被面貌,而不是某一点的植被特征。     

POPULATION SEX STRUCTURE AND REPRODUCTIVE FITNESS IN GYNODIOECIOUS SIDALCEA MALVIFLORA MALVIFLORA (MALVACEAE)

The spatial distribution of females and hermaphrodites within gynodioecious populations is expected to exert considerable selective pressure on gender fitness through pollen limitation of seed set. If pollen flow is predominantly local, seed set in individual plants may be sensitive to the proximity of pollen donors; pollen limitation of seed set may occur if hermaphrodites are locally rare. Under such circumstances, female fitness will be negatively frequency dependent and hermaphrodite fitness will be positively frequency dependent. Given local seed dispersal, a nonrandom clumped distribution of the genders is expected in gynodioecious populations due to the heritability of gender in gynodioecious species. If gender fitness is frequency dependent, such structure should favor hermaphrodites and select against females. To test this hypothesis, I quantified the distribution of the genders in terms of nearest neighbors and neighborhood sex ratio in two populations of gynodioecious Sidalcea malviflora malviflora. I then measured the effect of neighborhood sex ratio on open-pollinated seed set and pollen limitation in both manipulated and unmanipulated neighborhoods. Results indicate that the genders have a patchy distribution and that both genders are pollen limited and show an increase in seed set with an increase in neighborhood hermaphrodite frequency. The observed population sex structure favors hermaphrodites and disadvantages females. These results highlight the importance that population-level traits can have in determining individual fitness and the evolution of sex ratios in gynodioecious species.