Annals of botany最新文献

{"title":"Phylogenetics and evolution of Digitaria grasses, including cereal crops Fonio, Raishan, and Polish Millet.","authors":"George P Burton, Paolo Ceci, Lorna MacKinnon, Lizo E Masters, Noro Fenitra Harimbao Randrianarimanana, Philippa Ryan, Colin G N Turnbull, Tiziana Ulian, Maria S Vorontsova","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcaf212","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaf212","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>Millet crops in the grass genus Digitaria include white and black fonio (D. exilis and D. iburua), raishan (D. compacta) and Polish millet (D. sanguinalis), cultivated across West Africa, India, and Europe. Fonio and raishan crops are important to supporting food security and subsistence agricultural systems in rural communities, while D. sanguinalis is no longer cultivated. These crops are resilient to challenging climates. We aim to produce an integrated study of these crops: a phylogeny of the Digitaria genus including all four food species, to identify key crop wild relatives (CWRs); time-calibrated biogeographic analysis, to investigate the history and evolution of Digitaria; and morphological study to assess the transition between wild and domesticated species.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We use the Angiosperm 353 target-enrichment sequencing approach to produce maximum likelihood and coalescent model nuclear phylogenies for 46 Digitaria species, and Bayesian methods to propose an evolutionary and biogeographic history for the genus. Morphology of wild and cultivated species is investigated for spikelets and growth habits using microscopy and SEM imaging.</p><p><strong>Key results: </strong>Four distinct evolutionary lineages are found for the Digitaria crops, and we identify new close crop wild relatives D. fuscescens, D. atrofusca, D. setigera and D. radicosa, and D. ciliaris. South and eastern Africa is proposed as a likely origin of early Digitaria divergence, with crop lineages diverging from wild relatives around 2-6mya. Incomplete domestication traits are observed, including the loss of trichomes, but no clear change in appearance for spikelet or abscission zone morphologies.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The knowledge produced in this study about Digitaria CWRs will be useful in improving crop traits through targeted breeding and physiological studies; and we also highlight the need for conservation of seed material through programmes working with local partners, for these important climate-tolerant indigenous cereals.</p>","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145231350","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tissue culture of Juniperus chinensis: effects of sex and leaf morphology on in vitro regeneration.","authors":"Jiali Wang, Ke Qiao, Jiajing Qie, Kangjie Yue, Huixin Liu, Hongwei Kang, Xuping Tian","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcaf237","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaf237","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>In the tissue culture of Juniperus chinensis, issues such as inadequate sterilization, severe browning, and poor rooting have significantly hindered the widespread application of its asexual propagation techniques. Meanwhile, J. chinensis presents three sexes: female (FP), male (MP) and monoecious (MOP), with leaf morphological differentiation into scale leaves (SL) and spiny leaves (SPL). Variations in sexes and leaf morphogenesis may affect the establishment of tissue culture systems. However, there are currently no studies that have established tissue culture systems by integrating both sex and leaf morphogenesis and the differences in responses of explants with different sexes and leaf morphogenesis during culture remain unclear.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Using SL and SPL from FP, MP and MOP as explants, we conducted optimization of explant disinfection protocols, screening of culture medium, selection of anti-browning agents, determination of antioxidant enzyme activities, proliferation and rooting culture, plants hardening and transplantation. Comprehensively explore the differences in the process of establishing tissue culture among J. chinensis with different sexes and leaf morphogenesis.</p><p><strong>Key results: </strong>Disinfection of explants with two leaf morphogenesis from three sexes can be achieved by treating them with sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) for 18 minutes. The basal medium suitable for the early growth of explants with three sexes and two leaf morphogenesis is Douglas-fir Cotyledon Revised medium (DCR). Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) can inhibit browning by reducing the activity of oxidases. During the proliferation stage, explants derived from MOP demonstrate consistent hormone requirements. The adventitious bud proliferation efficiency of SPL is notably higher than that of SL, and all proliferated adventitious buds are SPL. At the rooting stage, the rooting ability of adventitious buds from SPL is inferior to that of SL. Conversely, MOP still maintain consistent hormone demands during the rooting stage. Post-transplantation, sterile plants display vigorous growth, with stem segments undergoing progressive lignification, the survival rate shows variability influenced by both sexes and leaf morphogenesis.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study established a multi-dimensional tissue culture system for Juniperus chinensis based on three sexes (FP, MP, and MOP) and their corresponding SL and SPL. It analyzed the differences and preferences among different sexes and leaf forms at various stages of tissue culture, providing technical support for the targeted breeding, germplasm resource innovation and industrial development of J. chinensis. Meanwhile, it offers novel perspectives for research on sex differentiation, mechanisms of leaf form transformation and other related areas in polygamous or heterophyllous tree species.</p>","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145172762","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A slow march along the South American Dry Diagonal: a multi-gene molecular phylogeny and biogeographical history of the peanut genus, Arachis L.","authors":"Peter W Inglis, Adriana R Custodio, José G Seijo, José F M Valls, Marcio C Moretzsohn","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcaf139","DOIUrl":"10.1093/aob/mcaf139","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>Arachis contains 84 accepted species, including peanut (Arachis hypogaea), all endemic to South America. To better understand evolutionary patterns in Arachis, we studied its phylogeny and biogeographical history.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We sequenced ITS, ETS, psbA-trnH, rpoB-trnCGCA and ycf1 regions and constructed maximum likelihood trees based on aligned matrices and on a concatenation of all five regions. We then conducted a fossil-calibrated Bayesian phylogenetic analysis and a biogeographical analysis.</p><p><strong>Key results: </strong>We hypothesize that Arachis diverged from its sister Stylosanthes in the Middle Miocene, about 15 Ma, in the area now occupied by the Brazilian Caatinga and Northeastern Cerrado, accompanied by the innovation of geocarpy as a possible adaptation to increasing aridity. Arachis began to diversify about 10 Ma, and the deepest branching, and more species-poor lineages remain associated with the Caatinga. Expansion of two distinct lineages to the contiguous and nascent Cerrado occurred in the late Miocene by ∼7.4 and ∼5.5 Ma, respectively. The Cerrado remains the major centre of diversity of Arachis and is the area of progressive expansion of the genus along the broad corridor of the north-eastern-south-western Neotropical Dry Diagonal, during the late Miocene and Pliocene. Further Pliocene expansion of distinct Arachis lineages from the Cerrado to the Pantanal and Chaco regions are also hypothesized, where the latter two ecoregions are identified as secondary centres of diversification of the genus. Frequent diversifications occurred in section Arachis from the Middle Pleistocene (∼0.774 Ma), probably driven by climate change, and accompanied by expansion of distinct Cerrado lineages: two into the Chaco, comprising a subclade of A genome species and another of all K-genome species, and a third comprising a subset of B genome species into the Chiquitano.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our results clarify phylogenetic relationships in Arachis and provide a new framework to understand its evolutionary history.</p>","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":"795-820"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144673806","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Warming has limited effects on plant growth through nutrient release: evidence from sub-Antarctic Marion Island.","authors":"Nita C M Pallett, Brad S Ripley, Michelle Greve, Michael D Cramer","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcaf154","DOIUrl":"10.1093/aob/mcaf154","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>Cold ecosystem plant productivity is nutrient-limited, largely due to temperature-limited soil decomposition rates. Climate warming is predicted to indirectly stimulate productivity by stimulating microbial activity and thus nutrient release. However, these trends are not consistent across cold systems, and the predictions require empirical testing. Here, we investigated whether soil warming on sub-Antarctic Marion Island (49.9°S, 37.8°E) indirectly stimulates grass productivity through increased nutrient release.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Four grasses (native Polypogon magellanicus and Poa cookii and alien Poa annua and Agrostis stolonifera) were subjected to soil warming (ambient +3 °C) in a potted experiment for 5 months. A second experiment with a fertilizer (NPK) treatment tested for nutrient limitation under warming. Additionally, soils with varying organic content were incubated at 5 °C (control), +3 °C and +6 °C for 42 d to determine changes in soil and microbial C, N and P.</p><p><strong>Key results: </strong>Warming consistently increased plant growth for only one species (the invasive alien Poa annua), but increased leaf N overall. Warming increased soil NH4+ but NO3-, organic N and PO43- remained unchanged, and warming had small or non-significant effects on microbial biomass, N and P. In contrast to warming alone, NPK fertilization stimulated growth at least two-fold and increased leaf N, showing nutrient limitation to growth despite soil warming.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>It is important to empirically test the assumption of nutrient release with cold-ecosystem warming, and we show that warming-induced nutrient release should not be assumed. Only the ruderal and phenotypically plastic Poa annua increased above-ground biomass with soil warming, indicating that nutrient release on Marion Island is limited even with short-term warming (<1 year). Nutrient release with warming is likely not a major driver of vegetation change on Marion Island.</p>","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":"865-876"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12464945/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144658183","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evolutionary consequences of flowering-pollinator asynchrony: the case of a floral oil-producing plant and its oil-collecting bees.","authors":"Liedson Tavares Carneiro, Isabel Cristina Machado","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcaf126","DOIUrl":"10.1093/aob/mcaf126","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>Selective pressures, such as biotic interactions, can fluctuate over reproductive seasons, influencing trait-fitness relationships and, consequently, selection outcomes. Phenological asynchronies between plants and pollinators within a single flowering season exemplify how such interactions vary on short timescales, potentially affecting the fitness function of plant populations. However, the role of discontinuous temporal overlap between flowering and pollinator activity in driving the adaptive evolution of floral traits remains poorly understood.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this study, we examined the variation of plant-pollinator temporal overlap within a population of the floral oil-producing Stigmaphyllon paralias (Malpighiaceae) to estimate trait-fitness (flower size-total fitness) relationships and the resulting selection pattern. We also assessed pollen limitation and pollinator-flower size association.</p><p><strong>Key results: </strong>Our findings indicate that plant-pollinator asynchrony led to differential pollen limitation between peak- and late-flowering plants, contributing to correlational selection on flower size and flowering time. Peak-flowering individuals exhibited a positive flower size-fitness relationship under high pollen limitation, while this association was negative for late-flowering individuals under low pollen limitation, likely due to resource allocation effects. Despite these dynamics, overall selection was non-significant, although the probability of pollinator visitation increased with flower size.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These results underscore the potential for fluctuating pollinator selective pressures within a single reproductive season to influence floral adaptation. Specifically, they reveal strong differences in flowering-pollinator synchrony that drive selection outcomes, which may help stabilize genetic and phenotypic variation and potentially prevent rapid trait evolution.</p>","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":"745-754"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12464942/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144833799","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Diversity of fungi attached to birds corresponds to the habitat ecologies of their avian dispersal vectors.","authors":"Niko R Johansson, Ulla Kaasalainen, Jouko Rikkinen","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcaf077","DOIUrl":"10.1093/aob/mcaf077","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>Animal-mediated transport of propagules is an important aspect of dispersal in many organisms, but severely understudied in fungi. Birds appear as natural dispersal vectors for many fungi, as they are often both mobile and migratory, potentially providing directed transport of fungal propagules to suitable sites for establishment. However, information of which fungal taxa are transported by which bird vectors is lacking.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>By using environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding of feather and feet swabs collected from bird species with two contrasting habitat ecologies (European robin Erithacus rubecula and goldcrest Regulus regulus), we identify and compare the diversity of fungi attached to these birds.</p><p><strong>Key results: </strong>We identified over 600 fungal taxa attached to and potentially transported by the birds. Differences in the fungal assemblages of the two bird species corresponded with species-specific patterns in the natural histories of transported fungi and the bird vector.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our findings show that bird-mediated transport can be important for a variety of fungal taxa, especially at medium to long transport distances. Taxa particularly affected include plant pathogens, saprobic macrofungi and sorediate macrolichens, especially those with specific habitat requirements.</p>","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":"721-732"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12464955/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143966385","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Beyond the Grant-Stebbins model: floral adaptive landscapes and plant speciation.","authors":"Kathleen M Kay, Bruce Anderson","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcaf096","DOIUrl":"10.1093/aob/mcaf096","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Floral diversity, a striking feature of angiosperm evolution, provides the impetus and rationale for linking pollinator-driven selection to speciation processes. Perhaps the most widely adopted model for pollinator-driven speciation is the Grant-Stebbins model, in which plant populations locally adapt to the most effective pollinator, leading to floral ecotype formation and, eventually, reproductive isolation and speciation. However, modelling and empirical studies suggest that populations need not adapt to the most effective pollinator, and major floral transitions remain poorly explained.</p><p><strong>Scope: </strong>We evaluate the Grant-Stebbins model, focusing especially on the most effective pollinator principle. We use floral adaptive landscapes to articulate a more complete and accurate framework for understanding floral adaptation, starting with the premise that plants evolve to maximize fitness. We highlight ways to improve the assessment of pollinator fitness functions, both singly and in combination. We show how floral adaptive landscapes can be used to describe processes of floral adaptation within populations, evolutionary transitions between floral phenotypes, and a variety of real-world situations that do not fit neatly under the Grant-Stebbins model. Finally, we evaluate how floral adaptive landscapes can clarify the role of pollination in speciation under a variety of species concepts.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The Grant-Stebbins model, while inspiring decades of empirical studies, is a caricature of pollinator-driven speciation and explains only a limited range of adaptive outcomes. By using adaptive landscapes, we acknowledge that flowers are not adaptations to the most effective pollinator, but adaptations to maximize fitness, making evolutionary shifts between distinct floral phenotypes easier to understand in multi-pollinator environments. Finally, we argue that while pollinators often drive floral divergence, speciation most likely results from simultaneous divergence in multiple niche axes across a geographic range, which has been underemphasized in plant speciation research.</p>","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":"699-720"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12464951/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144752126","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Pre-dispersal seed predation decreases plant progeny performance: the role of seed position within the fruit.","authors":"Ana Laura Chiapero, Silvina Melgar, Ana Elisa Ferreras, Lorena Ashworth","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcaf106","DOIUrl":"10.1093/aob/mcaf106","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>Pre-dispersal seed predation is a critical interaction that may significantly affect species fitness. Most studies have addressed this question by focusing on seed size, while the effect of seed position within the fruit remains unexplored. We tested how seed position within fruits affects pre-dispersal seed predation likelihood and progeny performance in two dominant trees, Vachellia aroma and Gleditsia triacanthos (Fabaceae), that are causing encroachment and invasions in Argentina's Chaco Forest.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We quantified pre-dispersal seed predation by bruchid beetles across different seed positions (basal, middle, stylar) within fruits. Seed germination and seedling vigour and survival were compared among seeds from such positions.</p><p><strong>Key results: </strong>Pre-dispersal seed predation was highest among seeds from the basal position in both species. In the absence of predators, basal seeds had higher survival and produced more vigorous seedlings than those from the middle and stylar positions.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Pre-dispersal seed predation not only reduced the quantity of seeds but also disproportionately negatively affected plant progeny performance. This selective predation may decrease seedling recruitment and thus impact population dynamics in both species. Our findings suggest that selective seed predation on seeds that would give rise to the most vigorous progeny may help regulate ecological processes such as invasion dynamics, while potentially promoting biodiversity.</p>","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":"783-794"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12464941/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144257241","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exclusion of bird pollinators impacts mating system and reduces offspring fitness in a pollination-generalist tree.","authors":"Louis M Ashton, Dylan Korczynskyj, Ryan D Phillips, Stanislaw Wawrzyczek, Eddie J van Etten, Siegfried L Krauss","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcaf168","DOIUrl":"10.1093/aob/mcaf168","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>In comparison to pollinating insects and non-flying mammals (NFMs), nectarivorous birds might display behaviours leading to greater pollen carryover. Therefore, plants pollinated by birds might display higher levels of paternal diversity and outcrossing than those pollinated by insects and NFMs, with associated fitness benefits for seeds and seedlings. Here, we test these predictions using a plant where birds, insects and NFMs are all frequent visitors to flowers.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>An experiment manipulating access to flowers of Banksia menziesii (Proteaceae) was conducted. Treatments applied to whole plants were: (1) open to all pollinators; (2) insect access, with birds and NFMs excluded; (3) NFM access, with insects and birds excluded; and (4) complete pollinator exclusion. Reproductive output was quantified in terms of fruit and seed production. The genetic consequences for offspring were tested using microsatellite markers to genotype individuals and quantify the mating system, and through field trials to quantify seedling vigour.</p><p><strong>Key results: </strong>When birds were excluded from flowers, maternal fitness was reduced. In comparison to open pollinated flowers, fruit set was reduced by 76 % when only NFMs could access flowers. When only insects (primarily introduced honeybees) could access flowers, the number of viable seeds per fruit was reduced by 20 % because the proportion of aborted seeds doubled, in comparison to pollination that included birds. For seedlings, heterozygosity was reduced by 22 %, outcrossing rates by 30 % and paternal diversity by 15 %, when birds were excluded. Seedling mortality was strongly associated with inbreeding, and selfing largely occurred only when birds were excluded. All parameters were lowest when only NFMs had access to flowers.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Although honeybees were effective pollinators of B. menziesii owing to their abundance, birds were inferred to be the most effective, with their exclusion resulting in a reduction of fecundity and offspring vigour. These negative effects were largely a consequence of selection against the products of self-pollination, which was associated with pollination by insects or NFMs. Our findings highlight how a genetic component of pollination that increases offspring fitness could favour the evolution of bird pollination.</p>","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":"887-902"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12464952/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144774577","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sexually deceptive orchids with distinct flower morphologies elicit different behaviours from a shared pollinator.","authors":"Marinus L de Jager, Noushka Reiter, Mike Wicks, Bjorn Bohman, Gareth D Holmes, Ryan D Phillips","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcaf234","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaf234","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>Pollination by sexual deception is one of the most specialised pollination strategies among angiosperms, with co-occurring plant species often exploiting males of different insect species. We test if the morphologically divergent orchids Caladenia cardiochila and its sympatric Endangered congener C. lowanensis are dependent on the same thynnine wasp pollinator. We further investigate the role of floral traits on pollinator behaviour and evaluate potential hybridisation risk.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Pollinator sharing was tested for with DNA barcoding. Pollinator behaviour was quantified and experimental floral dissections used to determine the site of sexual attractant release. We employed GC-MS to test for the presence of sugar on orchid labella, hand crosses to assess the impact of interspecific pollen transfer on seed viability, and population monitoring to quantify natural pollination success.</p><p><strong>Key results: </strong>We found that C. cardiochila and C. lowanensis both employ sexual deception of Phymatothynnus aff. nitidus wasps as pollination strategy. However, the behaviour they elicit differs with wasps attempting to mate with the insectiform labellum in C. cardiochila and the glandular sepal tips in C. lowanensis, which are the respective sources of sexual attractant. Unlike most sexually deceptive orchids, C. lowanensis secretes minute amounts of sugar from its labellum. While wasps interacted more frequently with the labellum in C. cardiochila, placing them closer to its reproductive structures, both species exhibited comparable pollination success and pollen transfer efficiency. Experimental crosses revealed that hybrid seed has high viability.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Sexual deception of the same pollinator by orchids varying in the location of sexual attractant and flower morphology highlights the considerable flexibility of this pollination strategy. Given their overlapping distributions and the viability of hybrid seed, pollinator sharing poses a hybridisation risk that needs to be considered in the management of wild C. lowanensis populations and future conservation translocations.</p>","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145147582","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}