Search results for "Pollination"

Lack of phosphoserine phosphatase activity alters pollen and tapetum development in Arabidopsis thaliana.

2015

Formation of mature pollen grain, an essential process for the reproduction of higher plants, is affected in lines that are deficient in the enzymes of the phosphorylated pathway of serine biosynthesis (PPSB). Mutants of phosphoserine phosphatase (PSP), the enzyme that catalyses the last step of PPSB, are embryo-lethal. When they are complemented with a construct carrying PSP1 cDNA under the control of the 35S promoter (psp1.1 35S:PSP1), which is poorly expressed in anther tissues, plants display a wild-type phenotype, but are male-sterile. The pollen from the psp1.1 35S:PSP1 lines are shrunken and unviable. Here we report the morphological alterations that appear in the psp1.1 35S:PSP1 lin…

Bilabiate Flowers: The Ultimate Response to Bees?

2007

† Background and Aims Bilabiate flowers have evolved in many lineages of the angiosperms, thus representing a convincing example of parallel evolution. Similar to keel blossoms, they have obviously evolved in order to protect pollen against pollen-collecting bees. Although many examples are known, a comprehensive survey on floral diversity and functional constraints of bilabiate flowers is lacking. Here, the concept is widened and described as a general pattern. † Methods The present paper is a conceptional review including personal observations of the authors. To form a survey on the diversity of bilabiate blossoms, a search was made for examples across the angiosperms and these were combi…

Consequences of plant population size and density for plant-pollinator interactions and plant performance

2001

Summary 1  Habitat fragmentation and the resulting decline in the local abundance of plant species can affect biological interactions. We examined the effects of abundance on plant–pollinator interactions by observing the pollinator service and subsequent reproductive output of a mostly outbreeding, but self-compatible, plant, Lychnis viscaria, in experimental populations of different sizes (number of individuals) and densities (distance between individuals). 2  Bumblebees, the main pollinators of L. viscaria, preferred larger populations, but visitation rates were higher in sparser populations. Pollinators were attracted to the larger inflorescences in sparse populations, which were also m…

Breeding system and pollination of Nuphar luteum (L.) Smith (Nymphaeaceae) in Norway

1995

Summary Insects visiting Nuphar luteum in southern Norway were caught and identified and their role as pollinators was evaluated by observations of their behaviour. Nuphar luteum is mainly pollinated by Apis mellifera and Bombus spp. Moreover syrphid flies are efficient pollinators. The chrysomelid beetle Donacia crassipes , although sometimes present, plays but a minor role as pollinator. By bagging and emasculating flowers the breeding system was shown to be one of mixed mating. Nuphar luteum is protogynous and primarily cross-pollinated, but because male and female stages overlap during the second day of flowering, and because it is self-compatible, self-fertilization is possible. Agamos…

Bird pollination in South African Salvia species

2006

Abstract Approximately one-fourth of the more than 900 world-wide distributed Salvia species (Lamiaceae) is ornithophilous. With few exceptions they occur in the New World, being predominantly pollinated by hummingbirds. In the Old World only Salvia africana-lutea and the recently described Salvia thermarum, both from the Cape Province of South Africa, were observed to be pollinated by sunbirds and white-eyes. Among the 23 South African Salvia species Salvia lanceolata is a further candidate for being bird pollinated. For the first time we describe and illustrate its pollination by Nectarinia chalybea and Zosterops pallidus. We compare the ornithophilous syndrome of the three mentioned Salv…

Pollination efficiency and pollen limitation in bistaminate vs tetrastaminate Lamiaceae

2021

Production of Haploid and Doubled Haploid Lines in Nut Crops: Persian Walnut, Almond, and Hazelnut

2021

This chapter deals with induction of haploidy via parthenogenesis in Persian walnut and via microspore embryogenesis in almond and hazelnut. Haploid induction through in situ parthenogenesis using pollination with irradiated pollen to stimulate the embryogenic development of the egg cell, followed by in vitro culture of the immature haploid embryos. Microspore embryogenesis allows the induction of immature pollen grains (microspores), to move away from the normal gametophytic developmental route in the direction of the sporophytic one, yielding homozygous organisms (embryos in this case). Unlike other fruit crops (such as Citrus), regeneration of entire plants has not yet been obtained in o…

Flowering and fruiting phenology and breeding system ofCistus albidusL.

1995

Summary The flowering and fruiting phenology and breeding system of Cistus albidus L. are studied. Four phases are established for the development of the flower, which remains open for a period of less than 14hrs, although this time—span can be further reduced if environmental conditions are unfavourable. Only 65.6 % flowers develop ripe fruits, the greatest losses occurring in the change from flower to unripe fruit. H is a xenogamous species with a PAD ratio of 5.426 ±816. Experimentally, fruits may be formed by autogamy through manual pollination, although this does not occur spontaneously. There is recognition by the plant of its own pollen tube, which reduced the production of fruits by…

Linking seed dispersal and genetic structure of trees: a biogeographical approach

2009

Aim  Natural and human-induced differences in frugivore assemblages can influence the seed dispersal distances of trees. An important issue in seed dispersal systems is to understand whether differences in seed dispersal distances also affect the genetic structure of mature trees. One possible approach to test for a relationship between seed dispersal and the genetic structure of mature trees is to compare the genetic structure of two closely related tree species between two biogeographical regions that differ in frugivore assemblages and seed dispersal distances. Previous studies on two Commiphora species revealed that Commiphora guillauminii in Madagascar has a much lower seed dispersal d…

A survey of the function of the lethal kettle traps of Arisaema (Araceae), with records of pollinating fungus gnats from Nepal

2000

Abstract Evidence from recent research combined with an evaluation of the literature indicates that Arisaema is adapted to pollination by fungus gnats. It apparently shares this peculiarity among aroids only with the distantly related genus Arisarum . In addition to previous records from Japan and North America, systematic collections from nine Arisaema species during several expeditions in the Himalayas in Nepal showed that, although other less efficient insect groups may participate, the nematoceran families Mycetophilidae and Sciaridae are the principal pollen vectors; they best fit the pollination apparatus of the mainly (para)dioecious kettle trap blossoms. A total of 16 fungus gnat ge…