| Title: | How to be a dioecious fig: Chemical mimicry between sexes matters only when both sexes flower synchronously |
| Author(s): | Hossaert-McKey M; Proffit M; Soler CC; Chen C; Bessiere JM; Schatz B; Borges RM; |
| Address: | "Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), UMR 5175, CNRS-Universite de Montpellier-Universite Paul Valery Montpellier-EPHE, 1919 route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier, France. Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG); National Chinese Academy of Sciences; Menglun, Yunnan China; Laboratoire de Chimie Appliquee, Ecole Nationale Superieure de Chimie de Montpellier, 8 rue de l'Ecole Normale, 34296 Montpellier Cedex 5, France. Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 2045-2322 (Electronic) 2045-2322 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "In nursery pollination mutualisms, which are usually obligate interactions, olfactory attraction of pollinators by floral volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is the main step in guaranteeing partner encounter. However, mechanisms ensuring the evolutionary stability of dioecious fig-pollinator mutualisms, in which female fig trees engage in pollination by deceit resulting in zero reproductive success of pollinators that visit them, are poorly understood. In dioecious figs, individuals of each sex should be selected to produce odours that their pollinating wasps cannot distinguish, especially since pollinators have usually only one choice of a nursery during their lifetime. To test the hypothesis of intersexual chemical mimicry, VOCs emitted by pollen-receptive figs of seven dioecious species were compared using headspace collection and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. First, fig-flower scents varied significantly among species, allowing host-species recognition. Second, in species in which male and female figs are synchronous, intersexual VOC variation was not significant. However, in species where figs of both sexes flower asynchronously, intersexual variation of VOCs was detectable. Finally, with one exception, there was no sexual dimorphism in scent quantity. We show that there are two ways to use scent to be a dioecious fig based on differences in flowering synchrony between the sexes" |
| Keywords: | Animals *Biological Evolution Biological Mimicry/*physiology Ficus/*metabolism Flowers/*metabolism Pollination/*physiology Volatile Organic Compounds/*metabolism Wasps; |
| Notes: | "MedlineHossaert-McKey, M Proffit, M Soler, C C L Chen, C Bessiere, J-M Schatz, B Borges, R M eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2016/02/19 Sci Rep. 2016 Feb 18; 6:21236. doi: 10.1038/srep21236" |
