AoB PlantsPub Date : 2024-04-05DOI: 10.1093/aobpla/plae023
Eva Darenova, Robert Knott, Tomáš Vichta
{"title":"Does lower water availability limit stem CO2 efflux of oak and hornbeam coppices?","authors":"Eva Darenova, Robert Knott, Tomáš Vichta","doi":"10.1093/aobpla/plae023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plae023","url":null,"abstract":"Recent changes in water availability can be crucial for the development, growth, and carbon budget of forests. Therefore, our aim was to determine the effect of reduced throughfall and severe summer drought on stem CO2 efflux as a function of temperature and stem increment. Stem CO2 efflux was measured using the chamber method on oak and hornbeam under four treatments: coppice, thinned-coppice, and both coppice and thinned-coppice with 30%-reduced throughfall. The first year of the experiment had favourable soil water availability and the second year was characterized by a dry summer. While reduced throughfall had no effect on stem CO2 efflux, the summer drought decreased efflux by 43-81% during July and August. The stem CO2 efflux was reduced less severely (by 13-40%) in September when the drought persisted but the stem increment was already negligible. The stem increment was also strongly affected by the drought, which was reflected in its paired relationship with stem CO2 efflux over the two experimental years. The study showed that summer dry periods significantly and rapidly reduce stem CO2 efflux, whereas a constant 30% rainfall reduction needs probably a longer time to affect stem properties, and indirectly stem CO2 efflux.","PeriodicalId":48955,"journal":{"name":"AoB Plants","volume":"78 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-04-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140602228","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AoB PlantsPub Date : 2024-04-04DOI: 10.1093/aobpla/plae022
André Dunedin Gossweiler, Brian C Smart, Brent S Hulke
{"title":"Survival analysis of freezing stress in the North American native perennial flax, Linum lewisii Pursh","authors":"André Dunedin Gossweiler, Brian C Smart, Brent S Hulke","doi":"10.1093/aobpla/plae022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plae022","url":null,"abstract":"The expansive range of Lewis flax (Linum lewisii Pursh.), an herbaceous perennial, exposes the species to a diversity of climatic conditions. As interest in the domestication and adoption of perennial crop alternatives grows and interest in this species for natural area restoration continues, the assurance of a commercial plant variety’s ability to endure the full range of possible climatic extremes is paramount. This study examines the freezing tolerance of a geographically representative sampling of 44 Lewis flax accessions at winter temperature extremes experienced in the northern Great Plains of the United States. Survival analysis models were adapted to include temperature exposure, in replacement of ordinal time typically used in such models, to produce statistics evaluating reactions to extreme temperatures that Lewis flax would encounter in our field environments. Our results revealed Lewis flax is more freezing tolerant than previously reported, and revealed four accessions with significantly superior genetic freezing tolerance than the released ‘Maple Grove’ cultivar. Furthermore, regrowth analyses indicate variation among accessions not associated with survival, which could lead to improving regrowth rate and survival simultaneously. These findings and their methodology expand the understanding of Lewis flax adaptation for winter hardiness and offer an efficient, new model that can be used to evaluate freezing tolerance at ordinal temperatures without requiring extensive prior physiological knowledge for a species.","PeriodicalId":48955,"journal":{"name":"AoB Plants","volume":"66 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140601475","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Floral morph variation mediated by clonal growth and pollinator functional groups of Limonium otolepis in a heterostylous fragmented population","authors":"Dengfu Ren, Fangfang Jiao, Aiqin Zhang, Jing Zhao, Jing Zhang","doi":"10.1093/aobpla/plae020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plae020","url":null,"abstract":"Premise Heterostyly, a genetic style polymorphism, is linked to symmetric pollen transfer, vital for its maintenance. Clonal growth typically impacts sexual reproduction by influencing pollen transfer. However, the floral morph variation remains poorly understood under the combined effects of pollinators and clonal growth in heterostyly characterized by negative frequency-dependent selection and disassortative mating. Methods We estimated morph ratios, ramets per genet, and heterostylous syndrome, and quantified legitimate pollen transfer via clonal growth, pollinators, and reciprocal herkogamy between floral morphs in Limonium otolepis, a fragmented population composed of five subpopulations in the desert environment of northwestern China, with small flower and large floral morph variation. Results All subpopulations but one exhibited pollen-stigma morphology dimorphism. The compatibility between mating types with different pollen-stigma morphologies remained consistent regardless of reciprocal herkogamy. Biased ratios and ramets per genet of the two mating types with distinct pollen-stigma morphologies caused asymmetric pollen flow and varying fruit sets in all subpopulations. Short-tongued insects were the primary pollinators due to small flower sizes. However, pollen-feeding Syrphidae sp. triggered asymmetry in pollen flow between high and low sex organs, with short-styled morphs having lower stigma pollen depositions and greater variation. Clonal growth amplified this variation by reducing intermorph pollen transfer. Conclusions Pollinators and clonal growth jointly drive floral morph variation. H-morphs with the same stigma-anther position and self-incompatibility, which mitigate the disadvantages of sunken low sex organs with differing from the classical homostyly, might arise from long- and short-styled morphs through a “relaxed selection”. This study is the first to uncover the occurrence of the H-morph and its associated influencing factors in a distylous plant featuring clonal growth, small flowers, and a fragmented population.","PeriodicalId":48955,"journal":{"name":"AoB Plants","volume":"33 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140312684","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AoB PlantsPub Date : 2024-03-26DOI: 10.1093/aobpla/plae017
Mingli Hu, Zhanhong Ren, Ning Rong, Mei Bai, Hong Wu, Ming Yang
{"title":"A possible pattern in the evolution of male meiotic cytokinesis in angiosperms","authors":"Mingli Hu, Zhanhong Ren, Ning Rong, Mei Bai, Hong Wu, Ming Yang","doi":"10.1093/aobpla/plae017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plae017","url":null,"abstract":"Evolution of cellular characteristics is a fundamental aspect of evolutionary biology, but knowledge about evolution at the cellular level is very limited. In particular, whether a certain intracellular characteristic evolved in angiosperms, and what significance of such evolution is to angiosperms, if it exists, are important and yet unanswered questions. We have found that bidirectional cytokinesis occurs or likely occurs in male meiosis in extant basal and near-basal angiosperm lineages, which differs from the unidirectional cytokinesis in male meiosis in monocots and eudicots. This pattern of cytokinesis in angiosperms seems to align with the distribution pattern of angiosperms with the lineages basal to monocots and eudicots living in tropical, subtropical, or temperate environments and monocots and eudicots in an expanded range of environments including tropical, subtropical, temperate, subarctic and arctic environments. These two cytokinetic modes seem to result from two phragmoplast types, respectively. A phragmoplast in the bidirectional cytokinesis dynamically associate with the leading edge of a growing cell plate whereas a phragmoplast in the unidirectional cytokinesis is localized to an entire division plane. The large assembly of microtubules in the phragmoplast in unidirectional cytokinesis may be indicative of increased microtubule stability compared with that of the small microtubule assembly in the phragmoplast in bidirectional cytokinesis. Microtubules could conceivably increase their stability from evolutionary changes in tubulins and/or microtubule-associated proteins. Microtubules are very sensitive to low temperatures, which should be a reason for plants to be sensitive to low temperatures. If monocots and eudicots have more stable microtubules than other angiosperms, they will be expected to deal with low temperatures better than other angiosperms. Future investigations into the male meiotic cytokinetic directions, microtubule stability at low temperatures, and proteins affecting microtubule stability in more species may shed light on how plants evolved to inhabit cold environments.","PeriodicalId":48955,"journal":{"name":"AoB Plants","volume":"52 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140297479","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AoB PlantsPub Date : 2024-03-25DOI: 10.1093/aobpla/plae018
Pramod Rathor, Punita Upadhyay, Aman Ullah, Linda Yuya Gorim, Malinda S Thilakarathna
{"title":"Humic Acid Improves Wheat Growth by Modulating Auxin and Cytokinin Biosynthesis Pathways","authors":"Pramod Rathor, Punita Upadhyay, Aman Ullah, Linda Yuya Gorim, Malinda S Thilakarathna","doi":"10.1093/aobpla/plae018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plae018","url":null,"abstract":"Humic acids have been widely used for centuries to enhance plant growth and productivity. The beneficial effects of humic acids have been attributed to different functional groups and phytohormone-like compounds enclosed in macrostructure. However, the mechanisms underlying the plant growth-promoting effects of humic acids are only partially understood. We hypothesize that the bio-stimulatory effect of humic acids is mainly due to the modulation of innate pathways of auxin and cytokinin biosynthesis in treated plants. A physiological investigation along with molecular characterization was carried out to understand the mechanism of bio-stimulatory effects of humic acid. A gene expression analysis was performed for the genes involved in auxin and cytokinin biosynthesis pathways in wheat seedlings. Furthermore, Arabidopsis thaliana transgenic lines generated by fusing the auxin-responsive DR5 and cytokinin-responsive ARR5 promoter to ß-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter were used to study the GUS expression analysis in humic acid treated seedlings. This study demonstrates that humic acid treatment improved the shoot and root growth of wheat seedlings. The expression of several genes involved in auxin (Tryptophan Aminotransferase of Arabidopsis and Gretchen Hagen 3.2) and cytokinin (Lonely Guy3) biosynthesis pathways was up-regulated in humic acid treated seedlings compared to the control. Furthermore, GUS expression analysis showed that bioactive compounds of humic acid stimulate endogenous auxin and cytokinin-like activities. This study is the first report in which using ARR5 :GUS lines we demonstrate the biostimulants activity of humic acid.","PeriodicalId":48955,"journal":{"name":"AoB Plants","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140297455","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Exitrons: offering new roles to retained introns - the novel regulators of protein diversity and utility","authors":"Muhammed Shamnas v, Akanksha Singh, Anuj Kumar, Gyan Prakash Mishra, Subodh Kumar Sinha","doi":"10.1093/aobpla/plae014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plae014","url":null,"abstract":"Exitrons are exonic-introns. This subclass of intron-retention alternative splicing does not contain a Pre-Terminating stop Codon. Therefore, when retained, they are always a part of a protein. Intron retention is a frequent phenomenon predominantly found in plants, which results in either the degradation of the transcripts or can serve as a stable intermediate to be processed upon induction by specific signals or the cell status. Interestingly, exitrons have coding ability and may confer additional attributes to the proteins that retain them. Therefore, exitron-containing and exitron-spliced isoforms will be a driving force for creating protein diversity in the proteome of an organism. This review establishes a basic understanding of exitron, discussing its genesis, key features, identification methods, and functions. We also try to depict its other potential roles. The present review also aims to provide a fundamental background to those who found such exitronic sequences in their gene(s) and to speculate the future course of studies.","PeriodicalId":48955,"journal":{"name":"AoB Plants","volume":"72 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140203302","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AoB PlantsPub Date : 2024-03-18DOI: 10.1093/aobpla/plae015
Jacob L Watts, Graham J Dow, Thomas N Buckley, Christopher D Muir
{"title":"Does stomatal patterning in amphistomatous leaves minimize the CO2 diffusion path length within leaves?","authors":"Jacob L Watts, Graham J Dow, Thomas N Buckley, Christopher D Muir","doi":"10.1093/aobpla/plae015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plae015","url":null,"abstract":"Photosynthesis is co-limited by multiple factors depending on the plant and its environment. These include biochemical rate limitations, internal and external water potentials, temperature, irradiance, and carbon dioxide (CO2). Amphis- tomatous leaves have stomata on both abaxial and adaxial leaf surfaces. This feature is considered an adaptation to alleviate CO2 diffusion limitations in pro- ductive environments as the diffusion path length from stomate to chloroplast is effectively halved in amphistomatous leaves. Plants may also reduce CO2 limitations through other aspects of optimal stomatal anatomy: stomatal den- sity, distribution, patterning, and size. A number of studies have demonstrated that stomata are overdispersed compared to a random distribution on a sin- gle leaf surface; however, despite their prevelance in nature and near ubiquity among crop species, much less is known about stomatal anatomy in amphis- tomatous leaves, especially the coordination between leaf surfaces. Here we use novel spatial statistics based on simulations and photosynthesis modeling to test hypotheses about how amphistomatous plants may optimize CO2 diffusion in the model angiosperm Arabidopsis thaliana grown in different light environ- ments. We find that 1) stomata are overdispersed, but not ideally dispersed, on both leaf surfaces across all light treatments; 2) the patterning of stomata on abaxial and adaxial leaf surfaces is independent; and 3) the theoretical im- provements to photosynthesis from abaxial-adaxial stomatal coordination are miniscule (≪ 1%) across the range of feasible parameter space. However, we also find that 4) stomatal size is correlated with the mesophyll volume that it supplies with CO2, suggesting that plants may optimize CO2 diffusion limita- tions through alternative pathways other than ideal, uniform stomatal spacing. We discuss the developmental, physical, and evolutionary constraits which may prohibit plants from reaching this theoretical adaptive peak of uniform stomatal spacing and inter-surface stomatal coordination. These findings contribute to our understanding of variation in the anatomy of amphistomatous leaves.","PeriodicalId":48955,"journal":{"name":"AoB Plants","volume":"103 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140203106","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AoB PlantsPub Date : 2024-03-13DOI: 10.1093/aobpla/plae013
Iñigo Zabalgogeazcoa, Juan B Arellano, Elena Mellado-Ortega, Francisco Barro, Ana Martinez-Castilla, Virginia Gonzalez-Blanco, Beatriz R Vázquez de Aldana
{"title":"Symbiotic fungi from a wild grass (Celtica gigantea) increase the growth, grain yield and quality of tritordeum under field conditions","authors":"Iñigo Zabalgogeazcoa, Juan B Arellano, Elena Mellado-Ortega, Francisco Barro, Ana Martinez-Castilla, Virginia Gonzalez-Blanco, Beatriz R Vázquez de Aldana","doi":"10.1093/aobpla/plae013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plae013","url":null,"abstract":"Plants function in symbiosis with numerous microorganisms, which might contribute to their adaptation and performance. In this study, we tested whether fungal strains in symbiotic interaction with roots of Celtica gigantea, a wild grass adapted to nutrient-poor soils in semiarid habitats, could improve the field performance of the agricultural cereal tritordeum (Triticum durum x Hordeum chilense). Seedlings of tritordeum were inoculated with 12 different fungal strains isolated from roots of Celtica gigantea that were first proved to promote growth of tritordeum plants under greenhouse conditions. The inoculated seedlings were transplanted to field plots at two locations belonging to different climatic zones in terms of mean temperatures and precipitation in the Iberian Peninsula. Only one strain, Diaporthe iberica T6, had a significant effect on plant height, number of tillers and grain yield in one location. This result showed a substantial divergence between the results of greenhouse and field tests. In terms of grain nutritional quality, several parameters were differentially affected at both locations: Diaporthe T6, Pleosporales T7, Zygomycota T29 and Zygomycota T80 increased the content of total carotenoids, mainly lutein, in the colder location; whereas gluten proteins increased with several treatments in the warmer location. In conclusion, early inoculation of tritordeum plants with fungal symbionts had substantial beneficial effects on subsequent plant growth and development in the field. Regarding grain nutritional quality, the effect of inoculation was affected by the agroclimatic differences between both field locations.","PeriodicalId":48955,"journal":{"name":"AoB Plants","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140147438","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AoB PlantsPub Date : 2024-03-07DOI: 10.1093/aobpla/plae012
Alina Dekirmenjian, Diego Montano, Michelle L Budny, Nathan P Lemoine
{"title":"Schizachyrium scoparium (C4) better tolerates drought than Andropogon gerardii (C4) via constant CO2 supply for photosynthesis during water stress","authors":"Alina Dekirmenjian, Diego Montano, Michelle L Budny, Nathan P Lemoine","doi":"10.1093/aobpla/plae012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plae012","url":null,"abstract":"Climate change is dramatically altering global precipitation patterns across terrestrial ecosystems, making it critically important that we understand both how and why plant species vary in their drought sensitivities. Andropogon gerardii and Schizachyrium scoparium, both C4 grasses, provide a model system for understanding the physiological mechanisms that determine how species of a single functional type can differ in drought responses, an issue remains a critical gap in our ability to model and predict the impacts of drought on grassland ecosystems. Despite the greater lability of foliar water content, previous experiments have demonstrated that S. scoparium maintains higher photosynthetic capacity during droughts. It is therefore likely that the ability of S. scoparium to withstand drought instead derives from a greater metabolic resistance to drought. Here, we tested the following hypotheses: (H1) Andropogon gerardii is more vulnerable to drought than S. scoparium at both the population and organismal levels, (H2) Andropogon gerardii is less stomatally-flexible than S. scoparium, and (H3) Andropogon gerardii is more metabolically-limited than S. scoparium. Our results indicate that it is actually stomatal limitations of CO2 supply that limit A. gerardii photosynthesis during drought. Schizachyrium scoparium was more drought-resistant than A. gerardii based on long-term field data, organismal biomass production, and physiological gas exchange measurements. While both S. scoparium and A. gerardii avoided metabolic limitation of photosynthesis, CO2 supply of A. gerardii was greatly reduced during late-stage drought stress. That two common, co-occurring C4 species possess such different responses to drought highlights the physiological variability inherent within plant functional groups and underscores the need for more studies of C4 drought tolerance.","PeriodicalId":48955,"journal":{"name":"AoB Plants","volume":"89 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140098181","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AoB PlantsPub Date : 2024-03-01eCollection Date: 2024-02-01DOI: 10.1093/aobpla/plae010
Cristina Robles, Víctor Romero-Egea, Anna Traveset, Rocío Ruiz de Ybáñez, Sandra Hervías-Parejo
{"title":"Vertebrates can be more important pollinators than invertebrates on islands: the case of <i>Malva (=Lavatera) arborea</i> L.","authors":"Cristina Robles, Víctor Romero-Egea, Anna Traveset, Rocío Ruiz de Ybáñez, Sandra Hervías-Parejo","doi":"10.1093/aobpla/plae010","DOIUrl":"10.1093/aobpla/plae010","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><i>Premise of the study:</i> On islands, flowering plants tend to be more generalist in their pollination needs, as insects (the main pollinators of flowering plants) are underrepresented in these ecosystems compared to the mainland. In addition, some vertebrate species that are typically insectivorous or granivorous on the mainland are forced to broaden their diet and consume other resources such as nectar or pollen on the islands. The shrub <i>Malva arborea</i>, with its large and colourful flowers, attracts different groups of potential pollinators. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of vertebrates versus insects in an insular population of <i>M. arborea</i> and to investigate its reproductive system. <i>Methods:</i> For three groups of taxa (insects, birds and lizards), we assessed the two components of pollination effectiveness: (i) the quantitative component (i.e. number of visits and number of flowers contacted) through direct observations of flowers; and (ii) the qualitative component (fruit and seed set, number and size of seeds and proportion of seedling emergence) through pollinator exclusion experiments. <i>Key results:</i> Vertebrates (birds and lizards) were quantitatively the most effective pollinators, followed by insects. However, when all three groups visited the flowers, fruit and seed set were higher than when any of them were excluded. We also found that <i>M. arborea</i> has hermaphrodite flowers and is able to reproduce by autogamy, although less efficiently than when pollinated by animals. <i>Conclusions:</i> Both vertebrates and insects play an important role in the reproduction of <i>M. arborea</i>. Although the plant does not need pollinators to produce seeds, its reproductive success increases when all pollinators are allowed to visit the flowers. Besides providing new information on <i>M. arborea,</i> these findings may help to better understand the role of different pollinator groups in the reproduction of other plant species, especially on islands where the co-occurrence of vertebrate and invertebrate pollination in the same plant species is usual.</p>","PeriodicalId":48955,"journal":{"name":"AoB Plants","volume":"16 2","pages":"plae010"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10944019/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140144379","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}