More Like this

1. Delayed flowering phenology of red-flowering plants in response to hummingbird migration

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.03.035  

   McKenzie, Patrick F; Berardi, Andrea E; Hopkins, Robin (April 2025, Current Biology)

   The radiation of angiosperms is marked by a phenomenal diversity of floral size, shape, color, scent, and reward.1,2,3,4 The multi-dimensional response to selection to optimize pollination has generated correlated suites of these floral traits across distantly related species, known as “pollination syndromes.”5,6,7,8,9 The ability to test the broad utility of pollination syndromes and expand upon the generalities of these syndromes is constrained by limited trait data, creating a need for new approaches that can integrate vast, unstructured records from community-science platforms. Here, we compile the largest North American flower color dataset to date, using GPT-4 with Vision to classify color in over 11,000 species across more than 1.6 million iNaturalist observations. We discover that red- and orange-flowering species (classic “hummingbird pollination” colors) bloom later in eastern North America compared with other colors, corresponding to the arrival of migratory hummingbirds. Our findings reveal how seasonal flowering phenology, in addition to floral color and morphology, can contribute to the hummingbird pollination syndrome in regions where these pollinators are migratory. Our results highlight phenology as an underappreciated dimension of pollination syndromes and underscore the utility of integrating artificial intelligence with community-science data. The potential breadth of analysis offered by community-science datasets, combined with emerging data extraction techniques, could accelerate discoveries about the evolutionary and ecological drivers of biological diversity. 

   more » « less
2. Flowering time runs hot and cold

   https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiac111  

   Preston, Jill C.; Fjellheim, Siri (March 2022, Plant Physiology)

   Abstract Evidence suggests that anthropogenically-mediated global warming results in accelerated flowering for many plant populations. However, the fact that some plants are late flowering or unaffected by warming, underscores the complex relationship between phase change, temperature, and phylogeny. In this review, we present an emerging picture of how plants sense temperature changes, and then discuss the independent recruitment of ancient flowering pathway genes for the evolution of ambient, low, and high temperature-regulated reproductive development. As well as revealing areas of research required for a better understanding of how past thermal climates have shaped global patterns of plasticity in plant phase change, we consider the implications for these phenological thermal responses in light of climate change. 

   more » « less
3. Pollination intensity and paternity in flowering plants

   https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcz159  

   Christopher, Dorothy A; Mitchell, Randall J; Karron, Jeffrey D (October 2019, Annals of Botany)

   Abstract Background Siring success plays a key role in plant evolution and reproductive ecology, and variation among individuals creates an opportunity for selection to act. Differences in male reproductive success can be caused by processes that occur during two stages, the pollination and post-pollination phases of reproduction. In the pollination phase, heritable variation in floral traits and floral display affect pollinator visitation patterns, which in turn affect variation among plants in the amount of pollen exported and deposited on recipient stigmas. In the post-pollination phase, differences among individuals in pollen grain germination success and pollen tube growth may cause realized paternity to differ from patterns of pollen receipt. The maternal plant can also preferentially provision some developing seeds or fruits to further alter variation in siring success. Scope In this review, we describe studies that advance our understanding of the dynamics of the pollination and post-pollination phases, focusing on how variation in male fitness changes in response to pollen limitation. We then explore the interplay between pollination and post-pollination success, and how these processes respond to ecological factors such as pollination intensity. We also identify pressing questions at the intersection of pollination and paternity and describe novel experimental approaches to elucidate the relative importance of pollination and post-pollination factors in determining male reproductive success. Conclusions The relative contribution of pollination and post-pollination processes to variation in male reproductive success may not be constant, but rather may vary with pollination intensity. Studies that quantify the effects of pollination and post-pollination phases in concert will be especially valuable as they will enable researchers to more fully understand the ecological conditions influencing male reproductive success. 

   more » « less
4. Plastid Genomes of Flowering Plants: Essential Principles

   https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1472-3_1  

   Tracey A. Ruhlman and Robert K. Jansen (October 2021, Chloroplast Biotechnology: Methods and Protocols, Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 2317)

   Pal Maliga (Ed.)

   The plastid genome (plastome) has proved a valuable source of data for evaluating evolutionary relation- ships among angiosperms. Through basic and applied approaches, plastid transformation technology offers the potential to understand and improve plant productivity, providing food, fiber, energy, and medicines to meet the needs of a burgeoning global population. The growing genomic resources available to both phylogenetic and biotechnological investigations is allowing novel insights and expanding the scope of plastome research to encompass new species. In this chapter, we present an overview of some of the seminal and contemporary research that has contributed to our current understanding of plastome evolution and attempt to highlight the relationship between evolutionary mechanisms and the tools of plastid genetic engineering. 

   more » « less
5. Hermaphroditism promotes mate diversity in flowering plants

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.1336  

   Christopher, Dorothy_A; Mitchell, Randall_J; Trapnell, Dorset_W; Smallwood, Patrick_A; Semski, Wendy_R; Karron, Jeffrey_D (August 2019, American Journal of Botany)

   PremiseGenetically diverse sibships are thought to increase parental fitness through a reduction in the intensity of sib competition, and through increased opportunities for seedling establishment in spatially or temporally heterogeneous environments. Nearly all research on mate diversity in flowering plants has focused on the number of fathers siring seeds within a fruit or on a maternal plant. Yet as hermaphrodites, plants can also accrue mate diversity by siring offspring on several pollen recipients in a population. Here we explore whether mate composition overlaps between the dual sex functions, and discuss the implications for plant reproductive success. MethodsWe established an experimental population of 49Mimulus ringens(monkeyflower) plants, each trimmed to a single flower. Following pollination by wild bees, we quantified mate composition for each flower through both paternal and maternal function. Parentage was successfully assigned to 240 progeny, 98% of the sampled seeds. ResultsComparison of mate composition between male and female function revealed high mate diversity, with almost no outcross mates shared between the two sexual functions of the same flower. ConclusionsDual sex roles contribute to a near doubling of mate diversity in our experimental population ofMimulus ringens. This finding may help explain the maintenance of hermaphroditism under conditions that would otherwise favor the evolution of separate sexes. 

   more » « less