| Title: | Evidence for the recruitment of florivorous plant bugs as pollinators |
| Author(s): | Etl F; Kaiser C; Reiser O; Schubert M; Dotterl S; Schonenberger J; |
| Address: | "Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Vienna 1030, Austria. Electronic address: florian.etl@univie.ac.at. Department of Organic Chemistry, University of Regensburg, Regensburg 93053, Germany. Department of Biosciences and Medical Biology, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Salzburg 5020, Austria. Electronic address: mario.schubert@plus.ac.at. Department of Environment and Biodiversity, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Salzburg 5020, Austria. Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Vienna 1030, Austria" |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.cub.2022.09.013 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1879-0445 (Electronic) 0960-9822 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Angiosperm flowers and their animal visitors have co-evolved for at least 140 Ma, and early flowers were likely used mainly as mating and feeding sites by several groups of insects, including beetles, flies, true bugs, and thrips. Earlier studies suggested that shifts from such neutral or antagonistic relationships toward mutualistic pollination interactions between flowers and insects occurred repeatedly during angiosperm evolution. However, the evolutionary mechanisms and adaptations, which accompanied shifts toward effective pollination, are barely understood, and evidence for such scenarios has been lacking. Here, we show that Syngonium hastiferum (Araceae), a Neotropical representative of an otherwise beetle-pollinated clade, is pollinated by plant bugs (Miridae; Heteroptera), which are florivores of Syngonium schottianum and other Araceae species. We found that S. hastiferum differs in several floral traits from its beetle-pollinated relatives. Scent emission and thermogenesis occur in the morning instead of the evening hours, and its pollen surface is spiny instead of smooth. Furthermore, the floral scent of S. hastiferum includes a previously unknown natural product, (Z)-3-isopropylpent-3-en-1-ol, which we show to have a function in specifically attracting the plant bug pollinators. This is the first known case of a specialized plant bug pollination system and provides clear evidence for the hypothesis that the adoption of antagonistic florivores as pollinators can drive flower diversification. VIDEO ABSTRACT" |
| Keywords: | Animals Pollination Flowers Insecta Pollen *Coleoptera *Araceae *Heteroptera Araceae Miridae NMR spectroscopy Palladium-catalyzed cross couplings angiosperm evolution antagonist capture chemical communication via gambanol florivory flower diversification; |
| Notes: | "MedlineEtl, Florian Kaiser, Christian Reiser, Oliver Schubert, Mario Dotterl, Stefan Schonenberger, Jurg eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Video-Audio Media England 2022/10/06 Curr Biol. 2022 Nov 7; 32(21):4688-4698.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.09.013. Epub 2022 Oct 4" |
