« Previous AbstractA proposal for calculating the no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) for organic compounds responsible for liver toxicity based on their physicochemical properties    Next AbstractProspects and Challenges of Volatile Organic Compound Sensors in Human Healthcare »

BMC Plant Biol

Title:		Why does an obligate autogamous orchid produce insect attractants in nectar? - a case study on Epipactis albensis (Orchidaceae)
Author(s):		Jakubska-Busse A; Czelusniak I; Kobylka MJ; Hojniak M;
Address:		"University of Wroclaw, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Department of Botany, 50-328, Wroclaw, Poland. anna.jakubska-busse@uwr.edu.pl. University of Wroclaw, Faculty of Chemistry, 50-353, Wroclaw, Poland"
Journal Title:		BMC Plant Biol
Year:		2022
Volume:		20220413
Issue:		1
Page Number:		196 -
DOI:		10.1186/s12870-022-03563-3
ISSN/ISBN:		1471-2229 (Electronic) 1471-2229 (Linking)
Abstract:		"BACKGROUND: The flowers of some species of orchids produce nectar as a reward for pollination, the process of transferring pollen from flower to flower. Epipactis albensis is an obligatory autogamous species, does not require the presence of insects for pollination, nevertheless, it has not lost the ability to produce nectar, the chemical composition of which we examined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method for identification of potential insect attractants. RESULTS: During five years of field research, we did not observe any true pollinating insects visiting the flowers of this species, only accidental insects as ants and aphids. As a result of our studies, we find that this self-pollinating orchid produces in nectar inter alia aliphatic saturated and unsaturated aldehydes such as nonanal (pelargonal) and 2-pentenal as well as aromatic ones (i.e., syringaldehyde, hyacinthin). The nectar is low in alkenes, which may explain the absence of pollinating insects. Moreover, vanillin and eugenol derivatives, well-known as important scent compounds were also identified, but the list of chemical compounds is much poorer compared with a closely related species, insect-pollinating E. helleborine. CONCLUSION: Autogamy is a reproductive mechanism employed by many flowering plants, including the orchid genus Epipactis, as an adaptation to growing in habitats where pollinating insects are rarely observed due to the lack of nectar-producing plants they feed on. The production of numerous chemical attractants by self-pollinated E. albensis confirms the evolutionary secondary process, i.e., transition from ancestral insect-pollinating species to obligatory autogamous"
Keywords:		Animals Flowers/chemistry Insecta *Orchidaceae/chemistry Pheromones/analysis Plant Nectar/analysis Pollination Autogamy Epipactis Floral scent Floral volatiles Flower visitor attraction Gc-ms Nectar chemical composition Orchids;
Notes:		"MedlineJakubska-Busse, Anna Czelusniak, Izabela Kobylka, Michal J Hojniak, Marek eng England 2022/04/15 BMC Plant Biol. 2022 Apr 13; 22(1):196. doi: 10.1186/s12870-022-03563-3"