Strong pollinator‐mediated selection for increased flower brightness and contrast in a deceptive orchid

Contrasting flower color patterns that putatively attract or direct pollinators toward a reward are common among angiosperms. In the deceptive orchid Anacamptis morio, the lower petal, which makes up most of the floral display, has a light central patch with dark markings. Within populations, there is pronounced variation in petal brightness, patch size, amount of dark markings, and contrast between patch and petal margin. We tested whether pollinators mediate selection on these color traits and on morphology (plant height, number of flowers, corolla size, spur length), and whether selection is consistent with facilitated or negative frequency‐dependent pollination. Pollinators mediated strong selection for increased petal brightness (Δβ_poll = 0.42) and contrast (Δβ_poll = 0.51). Pollinators also tended to mediate stabilizing selection on brightness (Δγ_poll = –0.27, n.s.) favoring the most common phenotype in the population. Selection for reduced petal brightness among hand‐pollinated plants indicated a fitness cost associated with brightness. The results demonstrate that flower color traits influence pollination success and seed production in A. morio, indicating that they affect attractiveness to pollinators, efficiency of pollen transfer, or both. The documented selection is consistent with facilitated pollination and selection for color convergence toward cooccurring rewarding species.     

Functional and structural characterization of domain truncated violaxanthin de‐epoxidase

Photosynthetic organisms need protection against excessive light. By using non‐photochemical quenching, where the excess light is converted into heat, the organism can survive at higher light intensities. This process is partly initiated by the formation of zeaxanthin, which is achieved by the de‐epoxidation of violaxanthin and antheraxanthin to zeaxanthin. This reaction is catalyzed by violaxanthin de‐epoxidase (VDE). VDE consists of three domains of which the central lipocalin‐like domain has been the most characterized. By truncating the domains surrounding the lipocalin‐like domain, we show that VDE activity is possible without the C‐terminal domain but not without the N‐terminal domain. The N‐terminal domain shows no VDE activity by itself but when separately expressed domains are mixed, VDE activity is possible. This shows that these domains can be folded separately and could therefore be studied separately. An increase of the hydrodynamic radius of wild‐type VDE was observed when pH was lowered toward the pH required for activity, consistent with a pH‐dependent oligomerization. The C‐terminally truncated VDE did not show such an oligomerization, was relatively more active at higher pH but did not alter the K_M for ascorbate. Circular dichroism measurements revealed the presence of α‐helical structure in both the N‐ and C‐terminal domains. By measuring the initial formation of the product, VDE was found to convert a large number of violaxanthin molecules to antheraxanthin before producing any zeaxanthin, favoring a model where violaxanthin is bound non‐symmetrically in VDE.     

Emlen funnel experiments revisited: methods update for studying compass orientation in songbirds

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