Orchid pollination biology

Orchids display many unsurpassed floral specializations, as both rewarders and frauds in their interaction with animal pollinators. Accumulating evidence indicates that their floral evolution is driven by pollinator traits and that expenditure for maximized sexual reproduction is parcelled out over their lifetimes in strategies for coping with pollinator and resource limitations. Recent advances in orchid pollination biology center mainly on floral evolutionary processes, pseudocopulation and other deceptive pollination systems, and flower and fruit production in relation to costs of sexual reproduction.     

A review of the energetics of pollination biology

Pollination biology is often associated with mutualistic interactions between plants and their animal pollen vectors, with energy rewards as the foundation for co-evolution. Energy is supplied as food (often nectar from flowers) or as heat (in sun-tracking or thermogenic plants). The requirements of pollinators for these resources depend on many factors, including the costs of living, locomotion, thermoregulation and behaviour, all of which are influenced by body size. These requirements are modified by the availability of energy offered by plants and environmental conditions. Endothermic insects, birds and bats are very effective, because they move faster and are more independent of environmental temperatures, than are ectothermic insects, but they are energetically costly for the plant. The body size of endothermic pollinators appears to be influenced by opposing requirements of the animals and plants. Large body size is advantageous for endotherms to retain heat. However, plants select for small body size of endotherms, as energy costs of larger size are not matched by increases in flight speed. If high energy costs of endothermy cannot be met, birds and mammals employ daily torpor, and large insects reduce the frequency of facultative endothermy. Energy uptake can be limited by the time required to absorb the energy or eliminate the excess water that comes with it. It can also be influenced by variations in climate that determine temperature and flowering season.     

Ancient DNA: Using molecular biology to explore the past

Ancient DNA has been discovered in many types of preserved biological material, including bones, mummies, museum skins, insects in amber and plant fossils, and has become an important research tool in disciplines as diverse as archaeology, conservation biology and forensic science. In archaeology, ancient DNA can contribute both to the interpretation of individual sites and to the development of hypotheses about past populations. Site interpretation is aided by DNA-based sex typing of fragmentary human bones, and by the use of genetic techniques to assess the degree of kinship between the remains of different individuals. On a broader scale, population migrations can be traced by studying genetic markers in ancient DNA, as in recent studies of the colonisation of the Pacific islands, while ancient DNA in preserved plant remains can provide information on the development of agriculture.     

A unique anther-mucilage in the pollination biology of Tylosema esculentum

Summary Tylosema esculentum, a perennial geophyte bearing yellow distylous flowers in racemes, maintains a high degree of outbreeding through reciprocal herkogamy. In addition, a viscous liquid, the anther-mucilage, is produced by the anther connective tissue and released concurrently with the pollen. The polysaccharide- and lipid-rich mucilage, which is functional in the shedding and transfer of pollen, is available for more than 1 day due to the gradual solidification of the mucilage. The assimilation of the pollen with the liquid substance significantly affects the pollination biology of T. esculentum. This is the first report on the unique phenomenon of wet pollen in the Caesalpiniaceae.     

The pollination biology ofHibbertia stricta (Dilleniaceae)

The exines of pollen grains ofHibbertia stricta (DC.)R. Br. exF. Muell. (Sect.Pleurandra) wear an oily, yellow pollen coat that stains positively for lipids. The pollen is collected by asocial bees, exclusively. The most common floral foragers are members of the genusLasioglossum (subgenusChilalictus;Halictidae) and they harvest pollen via thoracic vibration. As these bees cling to the inflated anthers their pollen smeared bodies come in contact with either of the two wet, nonpapillate stigmas. The stigmas respond positively to cytochemical tests for the presence of esterase immediately following expansion of the corolla, indicating the effective pollination period. The foraging patterns of the bees are narrowly to broadly polylectic. AsH. stricta flowers are nectarless, it is not surprising that bees bearing mixed pollen loads always carry the pollen of at least one nectariferous, coblooming plant. The pollination biology ofH. stricta is compared with otherHibbertia spp. and with pollen flowers in general.     

少花柊叶传粉生物学的研究

竹芋科Marantaceae植物所具有的雄蕊先熟(protandry)、次级花粉展示(secondary pollen presentation)以及不可逆转的爆发性花柱运动(explosive style movement)等特点,造就了其独特的传粉机制.本文对竹芋科多年生草本植物少花格叶Phrynium oliganthum的花生物学特性、传粉操控实验和传粉者行为观察三个方面做了较为系统的研究,以掌握该植物基本的开花行为及繁殖特性.实验结果表明,少花格叶自交亲和,但不存在自动自交机制,其传粉过程依赖于传粉者.传粉者为每天沿固定路线访花、被称为有序觅食者(trapliner)的独居蜂类(无垫蜂Amegilla spp.).在传粉实验中,无论是人工授粉还是自然状态下坐果率都很低(<10%),这可能是由于资源限制以及严重的花序腐烂及虫食.少花柊叶每天开花数约11朵,但并不同步,而是在4h内逐次开放,这种开花格局连同传粉者在一天之内会重复同一线路的拜访特点,有利于少花格叶在一定程度上减少同株异花授粉的发生,增加异交的机会.     

Morphology and anatomy of the flower of Meliosma (Sabiaceae): implications for pollination biology

Summary The structure and anatomy of mature flowers of four species of Meliosma is investigated using scanning electron and light microscopy. The vasculature of the flower, including the structure of the gynoecium, is described in detail. The mechanism of stamen maturation and pollen release is illustrated and discussed. The existence of an explosive pollination mechanism is questioned for at least part of the species. Flowers are proterandrous and fertile stamens are kept spatially separate from the style by a ring of large staminodes. Anthers are disporangiate by the loss of the adaxial pollen sacs. During maturation the filament bends progressively outwards and releases the pollen on the extension of the connective that acts as a secondary pollen presentation system. The nectary has five appendages topped with stomata secreting abundant nectar. The relationships of Sabiaceae are discussed relative to other early diverging eudicots. The significance of Sabiaceae as an isolated clade is highlighted, although some features point to a link with Menispermaceae.     

Adaptive radiation and coevolution — pollination biology case studies

The impact of coevolutionary interaction between species on adaptive radiation processes is analysed with reference to pollination biology case studies. Occasional colonization of archipelagos can bring together coevolving partners and cause coradiation of the colonizing species, e.g. the drepanidids and the lobelioids on Hawaii. Permanent reciprocal selective pressure between pairs of coevolving species can lead to a coevolutionary race and rapid evolutionary change. This is exemplified by spurred flowers and long-tongued flower-visitors. The geographic patterning of diffuse coevolution systems can lead to dramatic changes in species interactions. In different populations, interaction between pollinating and seed-parasitizing Greya moths and their host plants varies from mutualism to commensalism and antagonism, depending on the presence of copollinators. Asymmetrical coevolution between angiosperms and oligolectic flower-visitors may facilitate rapid reproductive isolation of populations following a food-plant switch, if the oligoleges use their specific food plants as the rendezvous sites. Diffuse coevolution between angiosperm species and pollinating insects may cause frequent convergent evolution of floral traits such as nectar reward instead of pollen reward, floral guides, zygomorphic flowers, or mimicry of pollen signals, since the multiple plant species experience similar selective pressures via the coevolving partners. Patterns of angiosperm adaptive radiation are highlighted in the context of coevolution with pollinators.     

The role of thermogenesis in the pollination biology of the Amazon waterlily Victoria amazonica

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Several families of tropical plants have thermogenic flowers that show a 2-d protogynous sequence. Most are pollinated by large beetles that remain for the entire period in the flowers, where they compete for mates and feed. Active beetles require high body temperatures that they can achieve endogenously at great energy expense or attain passively and cheaply in a warm environment. Floral heating is therefore hypothesized to be a direct energy reward to endothermic beetles, in addition to its accepted role in enhancing scent production. METHODS: This study measures the pattern of floral heat production (as temperature in 20 flowers and respiration rates in five flowers) in Victoria amazonica at field sites in Guyana and correlates floral temperatures with body temperatures necessary for activity in visiting Cyclocephala hardyi beetles. KEY RESULTS: Thermogenesis occurred in a bimodal pattern, with peaks associated with the arrival and departure of beetles near sunset. Peak CO(2) production rates averaged 2.9 micromol s(-1), equivalent to a heat production of 1.4 W. Heat was generated mainly in the floral chamber on the first evening and by the stamen complex on the second. Mean chamber temperature remained between 29.3 and 34.7 degrees C during the first night, when ambient temperature was 23.5-25.2 degrees C. Beetles actively competed for mates and consumed stylar processes in the floral chamber, where their mean thoracic temperature was 33.2 degrees C. At the lower ambient temperatures outside of the flower, beetles capable of sustained flight had a similar mean temperature of 32.0 degrees C. CONCLUSIONS: Floral heating is not only associated with attraction, but continues throughout the night when beetles are active inside the flower and increases again when they leave. Floral chamber temperatures similar to activity temperatures of actively endothermic beetles imply that thermogenesis is an energy reward.     

Biochemistry and molecular biology teaching over the past 50 years

The revolution in molecular biology that began nearly 50 years ago has had an enormous impact in the lab, but it also triggered a quieter revolution in undergraduate teaching. How has it affected the content and teaching methodology of undergraduate courses, and is the training that students now receive in the molecular life sciences appropriate to their future career paths?     

The past, the future and the biology of memory storage

We here briefly review a century of accomplishments in studying memory storage and delineate the two major questions that have dominated thinking in this area: the systems question of memory, which concerns where in the brain storage occurs; and the molecular question of memory, which concerns the mechanisms whereby memories are stored and maintained. We go on to consider the themes that memory research may be able to address in the 21st century. Finally, we reflect on the clinical and societal import of our increasing understanding of the mechanisms of memory, discussing possible therapeutic approaches to diseases that manifest with disruptions of learning and possible ethical implication of the ability, which is on the horizon, to ameliorate or even enhance human memory.     

Comparative reproductive biology reveals two distinct pollination strategies in Neotropical twig-epiphyte orchids

Members of Oncidiinae are widely known for their interactions with oil-collecting bees that explore lipophilic secretions on flowers. They may also be pollinated through food deception and the offering of nectar. Although data on breeding systems are available for many Oncidiinae orchids, little is known about the reproductive strategies in Rodriguezia, a neotropical genus of ca. 55 species. In this paper, we explore the reproductive biology of two species of Rodriguezia with distinctive morphologies: R. decora and R. lanceolata. Floral features, spectral reflectance, pollinators and pollination mechanisms, and breeding systems were studied. Both species are scentless and produce nectar as a reward. Floral nectar is secreted by a gland at the base of the labellum and stored into the sepaline spur. Rodriguezia decora reflects mainly in the blue and red regions of the light spectrum, while R. lanceolata reflects in the red region. Rodriguezia decora is exclusively visited and pollinated by butterflies, while Trochilidae hummingbirds are the pollinators of R. lanceolata. Pollinaria attach to the upper third of the proboscis of butterflies (R. decora), and to the bill of hummingbirds (R. lanceolata), during the collection of nectar from the spur. Both Rodriguezia species are self-sterile. Flower features and floral reflectance support the occurrence of psychophily in R. decora and ornithophily in R. lanceolata.     

Honeyeater (Meliphagidae) pollination and the floral biology of PolynesianHeliconia (Heliconiaceae)

The primary pollinator of Polynesian heliconias,Heliconia laufao andH. paka, is the Wattled Honeyeater,Foulehaio carunculata. This report is the first documentation of pollination by honeyeaters in the genusHeliconia and the first record ofF. carunculata as a pollinator of a plant species. The Polynesian heliconias bear inflorescences that produce 2–4 hermaphroditic flowers per day for a period of 2–3 months. Each flower secretes abundant nectar (125–184 l) with low sugar concentration (15–18% sucrose-equivalents, weight per weight basis) which is available at anthesis just before dawn. Ninety percent of flower visits occur between anthesis and mid-morning. The honeyeaters perch on inflorescence bracts, and probing of the flower results in pollen deposition on the head and bill from where pollen is transferred between flowers. No statements on compatibility can be made forHeliconia paka; however,Heliconia laufao appears to be self-compatible. Calculations of energetic values of nectar of the Polynesian heliconias and Daily Energy Expenditures ofF. carunculata suggest that populations ofH. laufao andH. paka serve as rich energy resources for their pollinators.     

The pollination biology and breeding system of Monarda fistulosa (Labiatae)

Summary Successful cross-pollination of Monarda fistulosa is the result of a complex interaction among flower opening, the pollen-bearing areas of the pollinators and/or their behavior, and the maturation of the stigmas. The flowers open continuously from 0800–2000 h providing a temporally predictable rich source of nectar and pollen. Recently opened flowers may reduce the ability of bees to discriminate between resource rich and poor patches and encourage systematic foraging within patches. The continuous opening of flowers coupled with protandry also results in some flowers of most capitula being in the staminate and others in the pistillate phase. Autogamy is highly unlikely due to strong protandry and the spatial separation of anthers and stigmas. Geitonogamy, at least that mediated by Bombus is unlikely because the pollen is spread over a relatively large area of the wings, which reduces the likelihood of a stigma contacting just deposited pollen. Because pollen is transferred from the much smaller coxal area of Anthophora and other bees that mistake the stigmas of early pistillate phase flowers for stamens some geitonogamy seems inevitable. However, the delayed receptivity of young stigmas to self-pollen decreases the likelihood of self-pollen germinating on such stigmas. Older stigmas are equally receptive to self- and cross-pollen and the number of pollen grains germinating and pollen tubes reaching the base of the style increases with flower age.     

The pollination biology of Burmeistera (Campanulaceae): specialization and syndromes

The floral traits of plants with specialized pollination systems both facilitate the primary pollinator and restrict other potential pollinators. To explore interactions between pollinators and floral traits of the genus Burmeistera, I filmed floral visitors and measured pollen deposition for 10 species in six cloud forest sites throughout northern Ecuador. Nine species were primarily bat-pollinated (84-100% of pollen transfer); another (B. rubrosepala) was exclusively hummingbird-pollinated. According to a principal components analysis of 11 floral measurements, flowers of B. rubrosepala were morphologically distinct. Floral traits of all species closely matched traditional ornithophilous and chiropterophilous pollination syndromes; flowers of B. rubrosepala were bright red, lacked odor, opened in the afternoon, and had narrow corolla apertures and flexible pedicels, which positioned them below the foliage. Flowers of the bat-pollinated species were dull-colored, emitted odor, opened in the evening, and had wide apertures and rigid pedicels, which positioned them beyond the foliage. Aperture width appeared most critical to restricting pollination; hummingbirds visited wide flowers without contacting the reproductive parts, and bats did not visit the narrow flowers of B. rubrosepala. Aperture width may impose an adaptive trade-off that favors the high degree of specialization in the genus. Other floral measurements were highly variable amongst bat-pollinated species, including stigma exsertion, calyx lobe morphology, and pedicel length. Because multiple species of Burmeistera often coexist, such morphological diversity may reduce pollen competition by encouraging pollinator fidelity and/or spatially partitioning pollinator's bodies.     

Extinction filters and current resilience: the significance of past selection pressures for conservation biology

There is now little reasonable doubt about the scale of the present extinction crisis: recent and ongoing rates of species loss exceed background levels by two to three orders of magnitude. Nevertheless, species differ widely in their vulnerability to current threats. Growing evidence from both palaeontology and conservation biology suggests that past events may help to explain this variation. Communities appear far more resilient to particular threats if they have faced similar challenges in the past. This intuitive but poorly reported phenomenon has potentially far-reaching implications for attempts to focus conservation efforts on those areas most at risk from contemporary human activity.