Current Science

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Dichogamy and Style Curvature Avoid Self-Pollination in Eremurus altaicus


Affiliations
1 College of Life Sciences, Key Laboratory of Xinjiang Phytomedicine Resource Utilization, Ministry of Education, Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang 832003, China
 

This paper gives a systematic study of Eremurus altaicus in terms of flowering characteristics, pollinating features, style movement pattern, stigma receptivity and mating system. The result showed that it was protandrous and that the stigma had no receptivity until the end of pollen dispersal. Its style showed a regular movement pattern during the flowering phase. The style was upright, very close to anthers at first; then it quickly curved down 90° from the base just before the dehiscing of anthers, but went back to the former upright state after pollen dispersal of all 6 anthers. From the blossoming to the end of pollen dispersal, the stigma was smooth and dry, and had no receptivity to pollens until the style went back to the upright state with papillae, and mucus appeared. The curving down movement of the style significantly widened the relative distance between the stigma and the dehiscing anthers. Therefore, protandry and style movement are double safeguard mechanisms for avoiding selfing and promoting outcrossing in Eremurus altaicus, which has important significance in its reproduction and evolution potential.

Keywords

Foxtail Lily, Mating System, Protandry, Pollination, Style Movement.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Sun, S., Gao, J. Y., Liao, W. J., Li, Q. J. and Zhang, D. Y., Adaptive significance of flexistyly in Alpinia blepharocalyx (Zingiberaceae): a hand-pollination experiment. Ann. Bot., 2007, 99, 661–666.

  • Ruan, C. J., da Silva, J. A. T. and Qin, P., Style curvature and its adaptive significance in the Malvaceae. Plant Syst. Evol., 2010, 288, 13–23.

  • Ruan, C. J., Qin, P. and da Silva, J. A. T., Relationship between reproductive assurance and mixed mating in perennial Kosteletzkya virginica. S. Afr. J. Bot., 2011, 77, 280–291.

  • Pang, C. C. and Saunders, R. M. K., The evolution of alternative mechanisms that promote outcrossing in Annonaceae, a selfcompatible family of early-divergent angiosperms. Bot. J. Linn. Soc., 2014, 174, 93–109.

  • Seed, L., Vaughton, G. and Ramsey, M., Delayed autonomous selfing and inbreeding depression in the Australian annual Hibiscus trionum var. vesicarius (Malvaceae). Aust. J. Bot., 2006, 54, 27–34.

  • Ruan, C. J., Mopper, S., Silva, J. A. T., Qin, P., Zhang, Q. X. and Shan, Y., Context-dependent style curvature in Kosteletzkya virginica (Malvaceae) offers reproductive assurance under unpredictable pollinator environments. Plant Syst. Evol., 2009, 277, 207–215.

  • Khajuria, A., Verma, S. and Sharma, P., Stylar movement in Valeriana wallichii DC. – a contrivance for reproductive assurance and species survival. Curr. Sci., 2011, 100, 1143–1144.

  • Ruan, C. J. and da Silva, J. A. T., Adaptive significance of floral movement. Crit. Rev. Plant Sci., 2011, 30, 293–328.

  • de Vos, J. M., Keller, B., Isham, S. T., Kelso, S. and Conti, E., Reproductive implications of herkogamy in homostylous primroses: variation during anthesis and reproductive assurance in alpine environments. Funct. Ecol., 2012, 26, 854–865.

  • Li, Q., Ruan, C. J., da Silva, J. A. T. and Wang, X. Y., Floral morphology and mating system of Alcea rosea (Malvaceae). Plant Ecol. Evol., 2012, 145, 176–184.

  • Barrett, S. C. and Harder, L. D., Ecology and evolution of plant mating. Trends Ecol. Evol., 1996, 11, 73–79.

  • Alves, R. M., Artero, A. S., Sebbenn, A. M. and Figueira, A., Mating system in a natural population of Theobroma grandiflorum (Willd. ex Spreng.) Schum., by microsatellite markers. Genet. Mol. Biol., 2003, 26, 373–379.

  • Barrett, S. C. H., Cole, W. W. and Herrera, C. M., Mating patterns and genetic diversity in the wild daffodil Narcissus longispathus (Amaryllidaceae). Heredity, 2004, 92, 459–465.

  • Pierre-Olivier, C. and François, M., Pollination fluctuations drive evolutionary syndromes linking dispersal and mating system. Am. Nat., 2009, 174, 46–55.

  • Vallejo-Marin, M., Solis-Montero, L., Souto Vilaros, D. and Lee, M. Y. Q., Mating system in Mexican populations of the annual herb Solanum rostratum Dunal (Solanaceae). Plant Biol., 2013, 15, 948–954.

  • Ryan, D. B. R., Monica, A. G., Michael, P. L. and David, A. M., Mating system evolution under strong pollen limitation: evidence of disruptive selection through male and female fitness in Clarkia xantiana. Am. Nat., 2017, 189, 549–563.

  • Wu, L., Zhang, X., Ma, M. and Wang, S. M., Karyotype analysis of Eremurus in Xinjiang. J. Wuhan Bot. Res., 2005, 23, 541–544; (in Chinese with English abstract).

  • Dafni, A., Hesse, M. and Pacini, E., Pollen Pollination, Springer, Berlin, Germany, 2000, 1st edn.

  • Wang, W., Yang, S., Cui, G., Zhang, X., Liu, Y. and Chen, Y., Pollen viability and stigma receptivity of artemisia annua L.. J. Southwest Univ., 2015, 37, 1–7 (in Chinese with English abstract).

  • Schiestl, F. P. and Schlüter, P. M., Floral isolation, specialized pollination, and pollinator behaviour in orchids. Annu. Rev. Entomol., 2009, 54, 425–446.

  • Raguso, R. A., Thompson, J. N. and Campbell, D. R., Improving our chemistry: challenges and opportunities in the interdisciplinary study of floral volatiles. Nat. Prod. Res., 2015, 32, 893–903.

  • Nunes, C. E. P., Penaflor, M. F. G. V., Bento, J. M. S., Salvador, M. J. and Sazima, M., The dilemma of being a fragrant flower: the major floral volatile attracts pollinators and florivores in the euglossine-pollinated orchid Dichaea pendula. Oecologia, 2016, 182, 933–946.

  • Yang, G. F. and Xu, F. X., Floral development of monoecious Pseuduvaria Trimera (Annonaceae) and comparative morphology and structure of its stamens and indehiscent staminodes. Int. J. Plant Sci., 2016, 177, 736–748.

  • Dai, C. and Galloway, L. F., Sexual selection in a hermaphroditic plant through female reproductive success. J. Evol. Biol., 2013, 26, 2622–2632.

  • Chen, H. M. et al., An ACC oxidase gene essential for cucumber carpel development. Mol. Plant., 2016, 9, 1315–1327.

  • Ma, M., Fan, J. F. and Li, J., Pollination characteristics of ephemeroid plant. Eremurus anisopterus. J. Plant Ecol., 2006, 6, 1012–1017 (in Chinese with English abstract).

  • Zhang, L. and Li, Q. J., Flexistyly and its evolutionary ecological significance. Acta Phytoecol. Sin., 2002, 4, 385–390 (in Chinese with English abstract).

  • Kumar, G. et al., Studies on floral biology of Malva sylvestris L.. Indian J. Hortic., 2014, 71, 295–297.

  • Li, Q., Studies on patterns of pollination in Althaea rosea (Malvaceae) and adaptive evolution of context-dependent style curvature in the Malvaceae. Doctoral dissertation, College of Biological Science and Technology, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, China, 2011 (in Chinese with English abstract).

  • Luo, Y. L. et al., Effects of indole-3-acetic acid and auxin transport inhibitors on the style curvature of three Alpinia species (Zingiberaceae). Acta Physiol. Plant., 2012, 34, 2019–2025.

  • Luo, Y. L. and Li, Q. J., Effects of light and low temperature on the reciprocal style curvature of Flexistylous Alpinia Species (Zingiberaceae). Acta Physiol. Plant., 2010, 32, 1229–1234.

  • Liu, M., Sun, S. and Li, Q. J., The relation between stigma position and receptivity in two flexistylous gingers. Biodivers. Sci., 2007, 6, 639–644 (in Chinese with English abstract).

  • Verma, S., Rani, M. and Koul, A. K., Stylar movement avoids self-pollination and promotes cross-pollination in Eremurus himalaicus. Curr. Sci., 2004, 87, 872–873.


Abstract Views: 398

PDF Views: 165




  • Dichogamy and Style Curvature Avoid Self-Pollination in Eremurus altaicus

Abstract Views: 398  |  PDF Views: 165

Authors

Wei Gu
College of Life Sciences, Key Laboratory of Xinjiang Phytomedicine Resource Utilization, Ministry of Education, Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang 832003, China
Miao Ma
College of Life Sciences, Key Laboratory of Xinjiang Phytomedicine Resource Utilization, Ministry of Education, Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang 832003, China
Jun-Feng Fan
College of Life Sciences, Key Laboratory of Xinjiang Phytomedicine Resource Utilization, Ministry of Education, Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang 832003, China

Abstract


This paper gives a systematic study of Eremurus altaicus in terms of flowering characteristics, pollinating features, style movement pattern, stigma receptivity and mating system. The result showed that it was protandrous and that the stigma had no receptivity until the end of pollen dispersal. Its style showed a regular movement pattern during the flowering phase. The style was upright, very close to anthers at first; then it quickly curved down 90° from the base just before the dehiscing of anthers, but went back to the former upright state after pollen dispersal of all 6 anthers. From the blossoming to the end of pollen dispersal, the stigma was smooth and dry, and had no receptivity to pollens until the style went back to the upright state with papillae, and mucus appeared. The curving down movement of the style significantly widened the relative distance between the stigma and the dehiscing anthers. Therefore, protandry and style movement are double safeguard mechanisms for avoiding selfing and promoting outcrossing in Eremurus altaicus, which has important significance in its reproduction and evolution potential.

Keywords


Foxtail Lily, Mating System, Protandry, Pollination, Style Movement.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv114%2Fi02%2F387-391