Pollen tube growth from multiple pollinator visits more accurately quantifies pollinator performance and plant reproduction

Stavert, Jamie R.; Bailey, Charlie; Kirkland, Lindsey; Rader, Romina

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-73637-5

Cited by 18 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Nevertheless, how accurately the measurements of pollen viability and pollen germination can describe and quantify plant reproductive success is not clear. A recent study using apple ( Malus domestica Borkh) found that visitation from multiple pollinators resulted in the growth of pollen tubes for embryo and seed development more frequently compared to the visitation from a single pollinator, indicating that pollen tube growth from multiple pollinators can be an accurate way to quantify the pollination and reproductive success (Stavert et al, 2020 ). Our discussion on the influence of stochastic pollen transfer ( Figure 8 ) may also help to explain why pollination success from multiple pollinators may more accurately estimate plant reproductive success.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pollination and Plant Reproductive Success of Two Ploidy Levels in Red Clover (Trifolium pratense L.)

et al. 2021

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Plant reproduction in red clover requires cross-fertilization via insect pollination. However, the influences of visitation rate and timing on maximizing ovule utilization are yet to be determined. We aimed to study the influences of visitation rate, flowering stage, and self-incompatibility on reproductive success. We applied hand and honey bee pollination in the study of eight red clover cultivars with two ploidy levels released between 1964 and 2001. In hand pollination, increasing the visitation rates (from 10 to 80 pollinated florets per flower head) increased the seed number per flower head but reduced the seed number per pollinated floret. Different flowering stages (early, middle, and full flowering) did not influence the seed number per pollinated floret significantly. There was a marked difference in reproductive success depending on the ploidy level, with 0.52 seeds per pollinated floret in diploid and 0.16 in tetraploid cultivars. During the cultivar release history, seed number per pollinated floret seemed to decrease in diploid cultivars, whereas it increased in tetraploids. In honey bee pollination, diploid cultivars had more two-seeded florets than tetraploids. Different visitation rates and the stochastic nature of pollen transfer resulted in difficulties when the plant reproductive success between hand and bee pollination was compared. A maximum of 0.27 seeds per pollinated floret were produced in hand pollination compared to the 0.34 in honey bee pollination. In spite of this, hand pollination provided a valuable method for studying the pollination biology and reproduction of red clover. Future studies may employ hand pollination to unravel further aspects of the low reproductive success with the future perspective of improving seed number per pollinated floret in tetraploid red clover.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pollination and Plant Reproductive Success of Two Ploidy Levels in Red Clover (Trifolium pratense L.)

et al. 2021

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“…After being washed with distilled water, pistils were mounted on slides with glycerine and observed with a fluorescence microscope. When pollen tubes were not visible, we counted the number of pollen grains on stigmas considering that only pollen with tubes still attached to the stigma should remain after sample preparation (Biella et al, 2019 b) and that this number is expected to be correlated to the amount of germinated tubes (Stavert, Bailey, Kirkland, & Rader 2020). Pollen tube counts were performed for those species uniformly distributed among sampling sites, specifically Tridax procumbens, Wollastonia biflora , and Scaevola taccada .…”

Section: Pollination Efficiencymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, since flower visitation does not necessarily lead to conspecific pollen deposition (Ashman et al, 2020), the combination of DNA metabarcoding-based network analysis with measurements of pollination efficiency (e.g. , pollen deposition, pollen tube growth, fruit, and seed set) (Stavert, Bailey, Kirkland, & Rader, 2020) could provide a comprehensive overview of the effects of human disturbance on such ecosystem interactions. In this study, we combined the experimental advantage of an island model with the application of DNA metabarcoding to increase our understanding on how the fragmentation of green habitats (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

DNA metabarcoding unveils the effects of habitat fragmentation on pollinator diversity, plant-pollinator interactions, and pollination efficiency in tropical islands

Tommasi

Biella

Maggioni

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Habitat fragmentation is known to affect biodiversity, but the impact on pollinators and their interactions with plants is still unclear in anthropized landscapes. Islands are open-air laboratories for ecological studies with simplified communities and interactions, suitable to disentangle how land-use alteration impacts pollination ecology and its ecosystem service. Here, we used Maldives islands as model systems to investigate how pollinator richness, their mutualistic interactions with plants, and pollination efficiency are shaped by the degree of green area fragmentation (i.e., gardens, parks and semi-natural green covered patches), by considering both community- and species-level responses. To do this, we surveyed pollinators from 11 islands showing a gradient of green area fragmentation. In order to characterize the interactions between plants and pollinators and obtain a novel and comprehensive view of the key ecological dynamics, a DNA metabarcoding approach was adopted to identify the pollen carried by pollinators. We found that green area fragmentation at intermediate levels played positive effects on pollinator richness. However, fragmentation decreased interaction network complexity. Intriguingly, body size mediated the effect of landscape alteration on plant-pollinator interactions, as only the largest bee species expanded the foraging breath in terms of transported pollen richness at increasing fragmentation. In parallel, the pollination efficiency increased with pollinator species richness in two sentinel plants. This study shows that moderate landscape fragmentation of green areas shapes the ecosystem service of pollination, where in spite of interactions being less complex and mediated by pollinator body size, pollinator biodiversity and potential plant reproduction are supported.

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“…Under field conditions, we found that the outcross mix hand pollination was five times more likely to set fruit compared to open-pollinated flowers and fifteen times more likely to set fruit than flowers that received up to five honey bee visits. Studies have demonstrated that the proportion of flowers that set fruits and seeds increased with the number of visits, after 10 visits 25% of the visited apple flowers reach seed and fruit set success under orchard conditions 33 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The heterozygous call rate and the clustering analysis showed a similarity between the single and five visit pollination treatments, the www.nature.com/scientificreports/ self-pollination, and the no-pollination control. Field data in the same orchards indicate that up to five honey bee visits are not enough to result in a successful outcross-pollination event 33 . This highlights the importance of increasing the number of visits above ten, to capture the natural outcross pollination gene expression profile.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Using RNA-seq to characterize pollen–stigma interactions for pollination studies

Lobaton

Andrew

Duitama

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Insects are essential for the reproduction of pollinator-dependent crops and contribute to the pollination of 87% of wild plants and 75% of the world’s food crops. Understanding pollen flow dynamics between plants and pollinators is thus essential to manage and conserve wild plants and ensure yields are maximized in food crops. However, the determination of pollen transfer in the field is complex and laborious. We developed a field experiment in a pollinator-dependent crop and used high throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to quantify pollen flow by measuring changes in gene expression between pollination treatments across different apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) cultivars. We tested three potential molecular indicators of successful pollination and validated these results with field data by observing single and multiple visits by honey bees (Apis mellifera) to apple flowers and measured fruit set in a commercial apple orchard. The first indicator of successful outcrossing was revealed via differential gene expression in the cross-pollination treatments after 6 h. The second indicator of successful outcrossing was revealed by the expression of specific genes related to pollen tube formation and defense response at three different time intervals in the stigma and the style following cross-pollination (i.e. after 6, 24, and 48 h). Finally, genotyping variants specific to donor pollen could be detected in cross-pollination treatments, providing a third indicator of successful outcrossing. Field data indicated that one or five flower visits by honey bees were insufficient and at least 10 honey bee flower visits were required to achieve a 25% probability of fruit set under orchard conditions. By combining the genotyping data, the differential expression analysis, and the traditional fruit set field experiments, it was possible to evaluate the pollination effectiveness of honey bee visits under orchards conditions. This is the first time that pollen-stigma-style mRNA expression analysis has been conducted after a pollinator visit (honey bee) to a plant (in vivo apple flowers). This study provides evidence that mRNA sequencing can be used to address complex questions related to stigma–pollen interactions over time in pollination ecology.

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Pollen tube growth from multiple pollinator visits more accurately quantifies pollinator performance and plant reproduction

Cited by 18 publications

References 45 publications

Pollination and Plant Reproductive Success of Two Ploidy Levels in Red Clover (Trifolium pratense L.)

Pollination and Plant Reproductive Success of Two Ploidy Levels in Red Clover (Trifolium pratense L.)

DNA metabarcoding unveils the effects of habitat fragmentation on pollinator diversity, plant-pollinator interactions, and pollination efficiency in tropical islands

Using RNA-seq to characterize pollen–stigma interactions for pollination studies

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