Day–night fluctuations in floral scent and their effects on reproductive success in Lilium auratum

Abstract

We examined the contribution of diurnal and nocturnal pollination to male and female reproductive success in Lilium auratum. Plants were bagged for either 12 h during the day or at night to allow either only nocturnal or only diurnal visitors to forage throughout the flowering period. We found that there was no significant difference in the seed:ovule ratio among diurnally pollinated, nocturnally pollinated, or control flowers. However, in terms of male reproductive success, it was more advantageous for the plants to be pollinated both diurnally and nocturnally: the numbers of pollen grains remaining in diurnally pollinated or nocturnally pollinated flowers were significantly greater than those in control flowers. The total amount of floral volatiles of L. auratum was significantly higher at night than during the day. The constituents of floral scent of all time series examined were mostly monoterpenoids, many of which serve as attractants for nocturnal hawkmoths. Such nocturnally biased floral scent emission of L. auratum might achieve male reproductive success by attracting nocturnal visitors, which may suggest that the relative contribution of floral scent in this species is biased towards male reproductive success.

Spatiotemporal Floral Scent Variation of Penstemon digitalis

“…1a). Typically, plants with diurnal pollinators show stronger volatile emissions during the day than at night (Balao et al 2011;Borges et al 2013;Jürgens et al 2014;Morinaga et al 2009) as we observed in this study (Fig. 2), further suggesting their function in attracting day-active bee pollinators.…”

Genetic Diversity of <i>Lilium auratum</i> var. <i>platyphyllum</i> Endemic to the Izu Archipelago and its Relationship to a Nearby Population of <i>L. auratum</i> var. <i>auratum</i> by Morphological and SSR Analysis

“…auratum is a butterfly (Papilio bianor) in the daytime and a hawk moth (Meganonton analis) in the nighttime (Morinaga et al, 2009). There is no report regarding the pollinator species of L. auratum var.…”

Cloning and characterization of a benzoic acid/salicylic acid carboxyl methyltransferase gene involved in floral scent production from lily (Lilium ‘Yelloween’)

“…Previous studies have focused on the identification and emission patterns of volatiles in lily flowers. These studies showed that monoterpenoids and benzenoids were the major compounds of lily scent (Morinaga et al, 2009;Kong et al, 2012Kong et al, , 2013 and petals are the main emission source of fragrance compounds, while other floral parts released little or no volatiles (Kong et al, 2012). Additionally, scent emission was regulated during the flowering stages .…”