Parasites and investment to host inflorescences in a fig tree–fig wasp mutualism

IF 4.4 2区 环境科学与生态学 Q1 ECOLOGY
Ecology Pub Date : 2025-06-11 DOI:10.1002/ecy.70123
Chun Chen, Derek W. Dunn, Lei Shi, Rong Wang, Rui-Wu Wang
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Most mutualisms are parasitized by third-party species that inflict costs to the mutualists. How such parasites affect mechanisms that help maintain mutualism stability is poorly understood, even in well-studied systems. Angiosperm plants tend to invest most resources in tissue that yields high net benefits. In mutualisms with plant hosts, reduction in such investment can function as a key stability-promoting mechanism, such as in fig–wasp mutualisms. Here, uncooperative symbiont wasps that fail to pollinate incur “sanctions” via reduced host investment to unpollinated figs, realized via fig abortion, killing all wasp offspring, or via elevated offspring mortality within unaborted figs. We experimentally exposed host Ficus racemosa figs to parasitic wasps Sycophaga fusca, which convert fig flowers into offspring without benefitting host trees, with or without uncooperative (pollen-free) or cooperative (pollen-laden) symbiont pollinator wasps Ceratosolen fusciceps. Pollen-free C. fusciceps were still able to convert fig flower ovaries into wasp offspring, whereas those naturally pollen laden were prevented from reproducing by experimental manipulation. Independent of the effects of pollination and reproduction by pollinators, increased exposure to S. fusca parasites resulted in reduced rates of fig abortion and gall failure in unaborted figs. Although S. fusca convert flower ovaries that could otherwise become beneficial pollinator offspring or fig seeds into parasite offspring, figs with intermediate levels of parasite exposure received high levels of investment. Our results suggest that S. fusca parasite oviposition/larval activities can result in host trees boosting investment to figs, even when this may counter the tree's interests. We suggest that oviposition/larval activity by these parasites may mimic the biochemical pathways of pollinator gall formation and seed production.

无花果树-无花果黄蜂寄生与寄主花序的相互作用
大多数共生关系是由第三方物种寄生的,这给共生者带来了成本。即使在研究充分的系统中,人们对这些寄生虫如何影响有助于维持共生稳定的机制也知之甚少。被子植物倾向于将大部分资源投入到产生高净收益的组织中。在与植物寄主的共生关系中,这种投资的减少可以作为促进稳定性的关键机制,例如在无花果-黄蜂的共生关系中。在这里,不能授粉的不合作共生黄蜂通过减少对未授粉无花果的寄主投资而招致“制裁”,通过无花果流产实现,杀死所有黄蜂后代,或者通过提高未流产无花果中后代的死亡率。实验结果表明,榕属植物总状榕(Ficus racemosa)与寄生蜂fusca (Sycophaga fusca)接触后,榕属植物的花会在不影响宿主树的情况下转化为后代,而寄生蜂可以与不合作(无花粉)或合作(有花粉)的共生传粉者fusciceps (Ceratosolen fusciceps)交配。无花粉的fusciceps仍能将无花果花子房转化为黄蜂后代,而自然携带花粉的子房则被实验操作阻止了繁殖。除了授粉和传粉者繁殖的影响外,增加暴露于fusca寄生虫导致无花果流产率和未流产无花果胆衰率降低。虽然fusca将原本可能成为有益传粉者后代或无花果种子的花子房转化为寄生虫后代,但中等水平寄生虫暴露的无花果获得了高水平的投资。我们的研究结果表明,fusca寄生虫的产卵/幼虫活动可以导致寄主树木增加对无花果的投资,即使这可能会损害树木的利益。我们认为这些寄生虫的产卵/幼虫活动可能模仿传粉昆虫瘿形成和种子生产的生化途径。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Ecology
Ecology 环境科学-生态学
CiteScore
8.30
自引率
2.10%
发文量
332
审稿时长
3 months
期刊介绍: Ecology publishes articles that report on the basic elements of ecological research. Emphasis is placed on concise, clear articles documenting important ecological phenomena. The journal publishes a broad array of research that includes a rapidly expanding envelope of subject matter, techniques, approaches, and concepts: paleoecology through present-day phenomena; evolutionary, population, physiological, community, and ecosystem ecology, as well as biogeochemistry; inclusive of descriptive, comparative, experimental, mathematical, statistical, and interdisciplinary approaches.
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