Evolvability of flower geometry: Convergence in pollinator-driven morphological evolution of flowers

Woźniak, Natalia Joanna; Sicard, Adrien

doi:10.1016/j.semcdb.2017.09.028

Cited by 24 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 164 publications

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“…Luo et al, 1996). In some species, a decrease in organ number may occur due to the fusion of primordia (Endress, 1999;Rudall and Bateman, 2004;Wozńiak and Sicard, 2018). For example, the evolutionary transition from pentamery (5B) to tetramery (4A) via the fusion of two dorsal sepals has been suggested in Dipsacaceae (Ronse De Craene, 2010).…”

Section: Future Implications For Our Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Floral symmetry is an important example of this diversity, which affects the success of sexual reproduction via pollination, i.e. pollen transfer from male to female organs (Wozńiak and Sicard, 2018). Because plants are immobile, these organisms entrust the transport of pollen to wind, water or, in the majority of flowering plants, to animals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A design principle for floral organ number and arrangement in flowers with bilateral symmetry

2020

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The bilateral symmetry of flowers is a striking morphological achievement during floral evolution, providing high adaptation potential for pollinators. The symmetry can appear when floral organ primordia developmentally initiate. Primordia initiation at the ventral and dorsal sides of the floral bud is differentially regulated by several factors, including external organs of the flower and CYCLOIDEA (CYC) gene homologues, which are expressed asymmetrically on the dorso-ventral axis. It remains unclear how these factors control the diversity in the number and bilateral arrangement of floral organs. Here, we propose a mathematical model demonstrating that the relative strength of the dorsal-to-ventral inhibitions and the size of the floral stem cell region (meristem) determines the number and positions of the sepal and petal primordia. The simulations reproduced the diversity of monocots and eudicots, including snapdragon Antirrhinum majus and its cyc mutant, with respect to organ number, arrangement and initiation patterns, which were dependent on the inhibition strength. These theoretical results suggest that diversity in floral symmetry is primarily regulated by the dorso-ventral inhibitory field and meristem size during developmental evolution.

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Section: Future Implications For Our Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A design principle for floral organ number and arrangement in flowers with bilateral symmetry

2020

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“…Without strong selective pressures constraining evolution, simple variation in either the rate or specific patterns of development can readily generate morphological diversity over evolutionary time. Such a process need not be limited to wind-pollinated plants, however; many animal-pollinated lineages are also generalists and their morphologies function well across a range of pollinators (Rech et al, 2016;Wozniak and Sicard, 2017). Variation in their rate of development, either in the flower as a whole or in specific floral organs, may then also translate into a wide diversity of viable morphologies (Diggle, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why are the seed cones of conifers so diverse at pollination?

Losada

Leslie

2018

Annals of Botany

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In wind-pollinated plants, morphological diversity may result from simple variation in development among lineages rather than selective pressures for any major differences in function or performance. This work also illustrates the broader importance of developmental context in understanding plant form and function relationships; because plant reproductive structures perform many different functions over their lifetime, subtle differences in development may dramatically alter the specific morphologies that they use to meet these demands.

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“…While some of these floral traits may rely on a few genetic changes, others may have more complex genetic architecture. The transitions in pollination syndromes could, therefore, be much more complex than initially thought, and potentially controlled by different genetic solutions (Woźniak & Sicard, 2017). Serrano-Serrano et al, 2015;Serrano-Serrano et al, 2017a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…both translate in the potential of a phenotype for evolutionary change. Current knowledge of the genetic control of flower-pollinator specificity is largely derived from the study of model species from phylogenetic disparate plant lineages, such as Petunia,Mimulus and Antirrhinum (Yuan et al, 2013;Woźniak & Sicard, 2017). However, these systems, which all involve a single or few closely related species, are not appropriate to investigate the convergent nature of pollinator-driven flower evolution within plant radiations.…”

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confidence: 99%

Convergent changes in gene expression associated with repeated transitions between hummingbird and bee pollinated flowers

Serrano‐Serrano

Marcionetti

Perret

et al. 2019

Preprint

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The repeated evolution of convergent floral shapes and colors in angiosperms has been largely interpreted as the response to pollinator-mediated selection to maximize attraction and efficiency of specific groups of pollinators. The genetic mechanisms contributing to certain flower traits have been studied in detail for model system species, but the extent by which flowers are free to vary and how predictable are the genetic changes underlying flower adaptation to pollinator shifts still remain largely unknown.Here, we aimed at detecting the genetic basis of the repeated evolution of flower phenotypes associated with pollinator shifts. We assembled and compared de novo transcriptomes of three phylogenetic independent pairs of Gesneriaceae species, each with contrasting flower phenotype adapted to either bee or hummingbird pollination. We assembled and analyzed a total of 14,059 genes and we showed that changes in expression in 550 of them was associated with the pollination syndromes. Among those, we observed genes with function linked to floral color, scent, shape and symmetry, as well as nectar composition. These genes represent candidates genes involved in the build-up of the convergent floral phenotypes.This study provides the first insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the repeated evolution of pollination syndromes. Although the presence of additional lineage-specific responses cannot be excluded, these results suggest that the convergent evolution of genes expression is involved in the convergent build-up of the pollination syndromes. Future studies aiming to directly manipulate certain genes will integrate our knowledge on the key genes for floral transitions and the pace of floral evolution.Data availabilityRaw Illumina reads will be available in the Sequence Read Archive (SRA) in NCBI database. The assembled transcriptomes and their annotation will by available in DRYAD repository. Details and accession ID will be provided at the time of the manuscript acceptance.

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Evolvability of flower geometry: Convergence in pollinator-driven morphological evolution of flowers

Cited by 24 publications

References 164 publications

A design principle for floral organ number and arrangement in flowers with bilateral symmetry

A design principle for floral organ number and arrangement in flowers with bilateral symmetry

Why are the seed cones of conifers so diverse at pollination?

Convergent changes in gene expression associated with repeated transitions between hummingbird and bee pollinated flowers

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