Article
Plant Sciences
Anzu Minami, Xiaojun Kang, Clay J. Carter
Summary: Nectar volume and sugar composition are critical for plant-pollinator interactions. Cell wall invertases play a key role in determining the sugar composition and volume of nectar, with their activity affecting the attractiveness of nectar to pollinators.
Article
Plant Sciences
Ryan D. Phillips, Bjorn Bohman, Rod Peakall, Noushka Reiter
Summary: This study discovers a new type of sexual deception in orchids, where pollination occurs during feeding behavior at the labellum, offering important insights into pollination strategy shifts. Similar pollination strategies were found in other Caladenia species, suggesting a widespread occurrence across the genus and providing clues about transitional strategies during the evolution of sexual deception.
Article
Plant Sciences
Hannelise de Kassia Balduino, Priscila Tunes, Emanuele Giordano, Massimo Guarnieri, Silvia Rodrigues Machado, Massimo Nepi, Elza Guimaraes
Summary: Our study examines the differences in nectar traits in different types of nectaries within a plant and their ecological interactions with floral visitors. We found that nuptial nectaries attract bees while extranuptial nectaries attract ants, cockroaches, wasps, and flies. These nectaries produce different nectar compositions that fit the specific preferences of their respective visitors. The diversity of nectar traits and selective pressures exerted by floral visitors play a crucial role in plant-animal interactions.
Article
Zoology
Joshua T. E. Stevens, Lucas C. Wheeler, Noah H. Williams, Alice M. Norton, Carolyn A. Wessinger
Summary: Through analyzing the variation of flower color in hundreds of natural Penstemon hybrids, it was found that there is a correlation between the quantity of floral pigments and petal spectral reflectance, which can predict flower color. Moreover, reflectance data provides more accurate inference of pigment quantities than spectral attributes (brightness, chroma, and hue).
INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Molly B. Edwards, Evangeline S. Ballerini, Elena M. Kramer
Summary: Determining the developmental programs underlying morphological variation is key to understanding the evolutionary processes in angiosperms. In this study, the developmental and transcriptional dynamics of Aquilegia's petal nectar spur were characterized. It was found that differential cell division contributes to the growth difference between the proximal and distal surfaces of curved spurs, while increased cell elongation differentiates straight spurs in the hummingbird syndrome. RNA-seq data analysis revealed distinctive transcriptional differences and identified promising candidate genes involved in the evolution of straight spurs.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Edita Ritmejeryte, Berin A. Boughton, Michael J. Bayly, Rebecca E. Miller
Summary: Floral chemical defence strategies have been insufficiently studied, despite their importance to plant fitness. This study investigated the allocation of cyanogenic glycosides (CNglycs) within flowers and found extremely high CNglyc content in floral tissues of certain species, as well as diverse and specific within-flower distributions. The study also identified four patterns of within-flower CNglyc allocation and demonstrated the importance of visualizing metabolite localization.
Article
Ecology
Sarah J. McPeek, Judith L. Bronstein, Mark A. McPeek
Summary: Resource dynamics play a significant role in shaping the ecology of consumer-resource mutualisms. Resource traits evolve in response to selective pressures, altering the ecological dynamics of interacting species at evolutionary equilibrium. Natural selection favors higher nectar production in environments where plant or pollinator abundance is limited, and nectar traits evolve as a suite with compensatory increases in investment when producing one trait incurs higher costs.
AMERICAN NATURALIST
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Katarzyna Roguz, Laurence Hill, Sebastian Koethe, Klaus Lunau, Agata Roguz, Marcin Zych
Summary: Visual floral traits in the genus Fritillaria play a role in shaping plant-pollinator interactions, with some species offering robust food rewards. However, the specific impact of these visual features is still not fully understood. Floral traits crucial for plant-pollinator communication appear to be conserved among fritillaries, indicating potential influences of environmental factors beyond pollinators.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Nianyi Zhang, Xiaofang Wang, Zengqi Tang, Xiaonan Qiu, Zhixuan Guo, Danqi Huang, Hui Xiong, Qing Guo
Summary: This study found that female TSC patients are more likely to develop renal angiomyolipoma than male patients; missense mutation of TSC1 leads to a higher risk of renal angiomyolipoma, whereas frameshift mutation shows a reduced risk; patients with TSC2 mutations in the transcription activation domain 1 coding genes have an increased risk of renal angiomyolipoma.
FRONTIERS IN GENETICS
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Stefan Abrahamczyk, Michaela Jandova, Zuzana Liblova, Steven B. Janssens, Tomas Dostalek, Norbert Holstein, Eberhard Fischer
Summary: In the species-rich genus Impatiens, natural hybrids are rare despite closely related species often occurring sympatrically. This study found four independent polyploidization events within the complex, as well as various pre- and postzygotic mechanisms potentially preventing hybridization. The investigated mechanisms in combination effectively but not absolutely prevent hybridization in Impatiens and may occur in other genera with sympatric species as well.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Wei Zhang, Huaying Wang, Tengjiao Zhang, Xiaoxue Fang, Meiying Liu, Hongxing Xiao
Summary: How species diverge into different lineages and the correlation between lineage divergence and phenotypic divergence are investigated using the Aquilegia viridiflora complex as a model system. Phenotypic analyses reveal two distinct phenotypic groups along a geographic cline in China. Genomic sequencing identifies four distinct genetic lineages and significant gene flow between contacting lineages. The study suggests that both geographic isolation and local selection contribute to the geographic distributions of phenotypic variations and genomic divergences.
HORTICULTURE RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Lindsay M. Finnell, Matthew H. Koski
Summary: The study demonstrates that pollinators at high elevations prefer large ultraviolet floral guides, while showing no clear preference under reduced ultraviolet light. Flies only preferred large guides on bare substrate. Additionally, the contrast between ambient UV light and floral backgrounds enhanced the visibility of the guides, with flowers contrasting more with bare ground than foliage.
Article
Plant Sciences
Jon Bancic, Damaris A. Odeny, Henry F. Ojulong, Samuel M. Josiah, Jaap Buntjer, R. Chris Gaynor, Stephen P. Hoad, Gregor Gorjanc, Ian K. Dawson
Summary: Advances in sequencing technologies have allowed for the exploration of crop diversification beyond major staples. This study analyzed the genome of finger millet, an orphan crop, and identified four distinct groups of accessions corresponding to major geographic regions of cultivation. The analysis of sub-genomes and phenotypic data revealed a complex diversification history, providing valuable insights for the future development of finger millet.
Article
Plant Sciences
Juliana Lovo, Suzana Alcantara, Thais N. C. Vasconcelos, Maria das Gracas Sajo, Paula J. Rudall, Gerhard Prenner, Antonio J. C. Aguiar, Renato Mello-Silva
Summary: The study found that ornamented flowers in Trimezieae have additional ontogenetic steps and a hinge pollination mechanism, attracting more pollinator guilds, while plain flowers offer fewer resources for a shorter time. Despite ornamented flowers being the ancestral state in Trimezieae, shifts to plain flowers have occurred frequently in the past 5 million years, with some subsequent reversals.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Ana Garcia-Munoz, Camilo Ferron, Celia Vaca-Benito, Joao Loureiro, Silvia Castro, A. Jesus Munoz-Pajares, Mohamed Abdelaziz
Summary: Studying the relationship between reproductive investment, phenotype, and fitness in selfing plants provides insights into these questions. Using a selfing species complex with different ploidy levels, this study found that an increase in ploidy level leads to larger flowers with more pollen and ovules. Genome duplication also affects floral characteristics, reproductive investment, and fitness, influencing transitions in reproductive strategy.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2023)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Jack M. Colicchio, Fumihito Miura, John K. Kelly, Takashi Ito, Lena C. Hileman
Article
Plant Sciences
Jill C. Preston, Stacy A. Jorgensen, Rebecca Orozco, Lena C. Hileman
Article
Plant Sciences
Carolyn A. Wessinger, Craig C. Freeman, Mark E. Mort, Mark D. Rausher, Lena C. Hileman
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2016)
Review
Developmental Biology
Carolyn A. Wessinger, Lena C. Hileman
DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2016)
Article
Biology
Brian C. O'Meara, Stacey D. Smith, W. Scott Armbruster, Lawrence D. Harder, Christopher R. Hardy, Lena C. Hileman, Larry Hufford, Amy Litt, Susana Magallon, Stephen A. Smith, Peter F. Stevens, Charles B. Fenster, Pamela K. Diggle
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2016)
Review
Plant Sciences
Lena C. Hileman
CURRENT OPINION IN PLANT BIOLOGY
(2014)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Carolyn A. Wessinger, John K. Kelly, Peng Jiang, Mark D. Rausher, Lena C. Hileman
MOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES
(2018)
Article
Plant Sciences
Jack M. Colicchio, Patrick J. Monnahan, John K. Kelly, Lena C. Hileman
Article
Biology
Carolyn A. Wessinger, Lena C. Hileman, Mark D. Rausher
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2014)
Review
Biology
Lena C. Hileman
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2014)
Article
Plant Sciences
Irene T. Liao, Lena C. Hileman, Rahul Roy
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2021)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Carolyn A. Wessinger, Mark D. Rausher, Lena C. Hilema
Article
Plant Sciences
Jinshun Zhong, Jill C. Preston, Lena C. Hileman, Elizabeth A. Kellogg