Location:Home >> Papers >> Recent papers
Details of the Faculty or Staff
  • Title:  Low pollination success of hybrids between nectar-rewarding and food-deceptive orchids
  • Authors: 
  • Corresponding Author:  Ming-Xun Ren, Donata Cafasso , Maria Rosaria Barone Lumaga , Salvatore Cozzolino
  • Pubyear:  2014
  • Title of Journal:  Plant Syst Evol
  • Paper Code: 
  • Volume:  300
  • Number:  2014
  • Page:  1985–1993
  • Others: 
  • Classification: 
  • Source: 

    Abstract:

  • Natural hybridization is widespread among food-deceptive orchids, whereas hybridization between deceptive and rewarding species is less common among Mediterranean species and its evolutionary consequences remain under-investigated. Here, we examine the morphologicalvariation in floral traits, pollination success and demographic dynamics of natural hybrids between the widespread nectar-rewarding Anacamptis fragrans and the Mallorca endemic, food-deceptive A. robusta. We confirmed the status of hybrids using ribosomal DNA and assessed their maternal contribution using length polymorphism in the plastid tRNALEU intron. Genetic analyses confirmed that hybridization occurred in both directions, but the hybrids were morphologically closer in floral metric characters to A. fragrans and exhibited reduced amongindividual variation in floral traits. No obvious secreting papillae were present in the hybrid spur, which more closely resembled the spur of non-rewarding A. robusta, reinforcing field observations that hybrids were probably nectarless. Compared with both rewarding and deceptive parents, the hybrids were less attractive for pollinators, most likely because of the absence of significant reward and of their combination of contrasting parental floral advertisements. In spite of its low pollination success, the hybrid population is presently expanding alongside the endemic A. robusta, suggesting that it follows the demographic dynamics of the parental species.

Copyright 2002 - 2023 Wuhan Botanical Garden,Chinese Academy Of Sciences
Email: wbgoffice@wbgcas.cn     ICP: 05004779-1