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Flowers have evolved remarkable diversity in petal color, in large part due to pollinator-mediated selection. This diversity arises from specialized metabolic pathways that generate conspicuous pigments. Despite the clear link between flower color and floral pigment production, studies determining predictive relationships between pigmentation and petal color are currently lacking. In this study, we analyze a dataset consisting of hundreds of natural Penstemon hybrids that exhibit variation in flower color, including blue, purple, pink, and red. For each individual hybrid, we measured anthocyanin pigment content and petal spectral reflectance. We found that floral pigment quantities are correlated with hue, chroma, and brightness as calculated from petal spectral reflectance data: hue is related to the relative amounts of delphinidin vs. pelargonidin pigmentation, whereas brightness and chroma are correlated with the total anthocyanin pigmentation. We used a partial least squares regression approach to identify predictive relationships between pigment production and petal reflectance. We find that pigment quantity data provide robust predictions of petal reflectance, confirming a pervasive assumption that differences in pigmentation should predictably influence flower color. Moreover, we find that reflectance data enables accurate inferences of pigment quantities, where the full reflectance spectra provide much more accurate inference of pigment quantities than spectral attributes (brightness, chroma, and hue). Our predictive framework provides readily interpretable model coefficients relating spectral attributes of petal reflectance to underlying pigment quantities. These relationships represent key links between genetic changes affecting anthocyanin production and ecological functions of petal coloration.
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The carotenoid redshift: Physical basis and implications for visual signaling
Abstract Carotenoid pigments are the basis for much red, orange, and yellow coloration in nature and central to visual signaling. However, as pigment concentration increases, carotenoid signals not only darken and become more saturated but they also redshift; for example, orange pigments can look red at higher concentration. This occurs because light experiences exponential attenuation, and carotenoid‐based signals have spectrally asymmetric reflectance in the visible range. Adding pigment disproportionately affects the high‐absorbance regions of the reflectance spectra, which redshifts the perceived hue. This carotenoid redshift is substantial and perceivable by animal observers. In addition, beyond pigment concentration, anything that increases the path length of light through pigment causes this redshift (including optical nano‐ and microstructures). For example, maleRamphocelustanagers appear redder than females, despite the same population and concentration of carotenoids, due to microstructures that enhance light–pigment interaction. This mechanism of carotenoid redshift has sensory and evolutionary consequences for honest signaling in that structures that redshift carotenoid ornaments may decrease signal honesty. More generally, nearly all colorful signals vary in hue, saturation, and brightness as light–pigment interactions change, due to spectrally asymmetrical reflectance within the visible range of the relevant species. Therefore, the three attributes of color need to be considered together in studies of honest visual signaling.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2109465
- PAR ID:
- 10470271
- Publisher / Repository:
- Ecology and Evolution
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Ecology and Evolution
- Volume:
- 13
- Issue:
- 9
- ISSN:
- 2045-7758
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10408
