Reproductive biology and pollination of Cabomba aquatica (Cabombaceae)

Abstract

Reproductive biology and pollination of the fanwort, Cabomba aquatica Aubl., were studied in populations from dams located in Dois Irmãos State Park, Recife, Pernambuco state, northeastern Brazil. Flower anthesis in this species is diurnal and lasts two days. The flowers are bisexual and exhibit herkogamy and incomplete protogyny. Each flower produces an average of 2.1 ± 94.8 pollen grains, with a P/O ratio of 1.055 and high pollen viability (99.7%). This species is self-compatible, but requires biotic vectors to transfer pollen. We observed visits of bees (Apidae and Halictidae), wasps (Vespidae) and flies (Diptera) to the flowers. Bees and wasps were considered to be effective pollinators, both due to their behavior and their high frequency of visits to flowers, whereas flies were considered to be occasional pollinators. The floral mechanism (herkogamy and protogyny), together with low nectar production and pollinator behavior during visits, may contribute to increase pollen flow between individuals. Key-words: Cabomba, dichogamy, entomophily, herkogamy, self-compatibility. ResumoA biologia reprodutiva e a polinização de Cabomba aquatica Aubl. foram estudadas em populações presentes em açudes localizados no interior do Parque Estadual de Dois Irmãos, Recife, PE. A antese das flores é diurna, com dois dias de duração. As flores são bissexuais e apresentam hercogamia e protoginia incompleta. Cada flor produz em média 2.111±94 grãos de pólen, com uma razão P/O de 1,055 e elevada viabilidade polínica (99,7%). A espécie é autocompatível, porém demonstrou a necessidade de vetores bióticos para a transferência do pólen. Foram observadas visitas de abelhas (Apidae e Halictidae), vespas (Vespidae) e moscas (Diptera).As abelhas e vespas foram consideradas como polinizadores efetivos, tanto pelo comportamento como pela alta freqüência nas visitas, enquanto que as moscas foram consideradas polinizadores ocasionais. O mecanismo floral (hercogamia e protoginia), associado com a baixa produção de néctar e o comportamento dos polinizadores durante as visitas podem contribuir para aumentar o fluxo polínico entre os indivíduos.

Morphological Characterisation and Documentation of Freshwater Macrophytes in Pontian, Johor's Water

“…The frond shape, frond symmetry, frond colour and root or rhizome structures or colour were described in the result of this study. For the descriptive characteristic comparison, the E. crassipes collected in this study were compared to the photograph taken by Das and Goswami (2015), as well as L. laevigatum compared to Howard et al (2016), P. stratiotes compared to Chapman et al (2017), C. aquatica compared to Silva and Leite (2011) and L. rotundifolia compared with the sample recorded by Wannan (2019). The rest of the sample collected in this study were not compared to other published literature because lack of specific photographs from their studies, but the related photographs can be compared easily with the open source from internet especially from the aquarium ornament plant dealers.…”

Microsatellite markers isolated from Cabomba aquatica s.l. (Cabombaceae) from an enriched genomic library

“…The plants are ecologically important as a food source and as hiding places for several vertebrate and invertebrate species. They also produce considerable biomass and act as a nutrient reservoir ( Esteves, 1998 ; Silva and Leite, 2011 ). For these reasons, a set of rapid molecular markers is needed in C. aquatica s.l.…”