Flower colour variation in the montane plant<i>Gentiana lutea</i>L. (Gentianaceae) is unrelated to abiotic factors

Veiga, Tania; Guitián, Javier; Guitián, Pablo; Guitián, José; Munilla, Ignacio; Sobral, Mar

doi:10.1080/17550874.2015.1074626

Cited by 14 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Conversely, the distribution of colour morphs of Gentiana lutea was unrelated to abiotic factors such as elevation, temperature, rainfall or radiation (Veiga et al . ).…”

Section: Evolutionary Mechanisms To Maintain Flower Colour Polymorphimentioning

confidence: 97%

Flower colour polymorphism in the Mediterranean Basin: occurrence, maintenance and implications for speciation

et al. 2017

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Flower colour polymorphism (FCP) is the occurrence of at least two discrete flower colour variants in the same population. Despite a vast body of research concerning the maintenance and evolutionary consequences of FCP, only recently has the spatial variation in morph frequencies among populations been explored. Here we summarise the biochemical and genetic basis of FCP, the factors that have been proposed to explain their maintenance, and the importance of FCP and its geographic variation in the speciation process. We also review the incidence of FCP in the environmentally heterogeneous Mediterranean Basin. Nearly 88% of Mediterranean FCP species showed anthocyanin-based polymorphisms. Concerning the evolutionary mechanisms that contribute to maintain FCP, selection by pollinators is suggested in some species, but in others, selection by non-pollinator agents, genetic drift or gene flow are also found; in some cases different processes interact in the maintenance of FCP. We emphasise the role of both autonomous selfing and clonal reproduction in FCP maintenance. Mediterranean polymorphic species show mainly monomorphic populations with only a few polymorphic ones, which generate clinal or mosaic patterns of variation in FCP. No cases of species with only polymorphic populations were found. We posit that different evolutionary processes maintaining polymorphism the Mediterranean Basin will result in a continuum of geographic patterns in morph compositions and relative frequencies of FCP species.

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“…Conversely, the distribution of colour morphs of Gentiana lutea was unrelated to abiotic factors such as elevation, temperature, rainfall or radiation (Veiga et al . ).…”

Section: Evolutionary Mechanisms To Maintain Flower Colour Polymorphimentioning

confidence: 97%

Flower colour polymorphism in the Mediterranean Basin: occurrence, maintenance and implications for speciation

et al. 2017

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“…Previous studies have investigated ecological interactions in the same populations (Rossi et al , ) and karyological features of the studied subspecies (Rossi et al ). Recently, several authors have studied the occurrence of different colour morphs in Spanish populations of G. lutea , and they found that pollinators and predators, but not abiotic factors, act as selective agents on flower colours (Sobral et al , Veiga et al , ). However, we did not encounter plants with different floral phenotypes in our study populations.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of pollination mode on seed performance of Gentiana lutea: a laboratory evaluation of seed germinability

Rossi

Fisogni

Galloni

2016

Nordic Journal of Botany

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Gentiana lutea L. (yellow gentian, Gentianaceae) is a protected orophyte of central and southern Europe, mainly threatened by the uncontrolled collection of its rhizome, used in traditional medicine and for liquor production. The species is selfcompatible, but outcrossing mediated by pollinators is needed to obtain a viable progeny. In this study, we considered five natural populations belonging to the four subspecies of G. lutea. We performed controlled pollinations in the field (self-versus cross-pollination) followed by seed germination tests in laboratory conditions, adding a solution of gibberellic acid, in order to evaluate the seed performance. A cumulative index of inbreeding depression was calculated considering maternal reproductive output as well as seed performance traits. Seed weight and seed germination performance was similar between seeds resulting from naturally pollinated and pollen-augmented flowers and higher compared to selfed flowers, highlighting a disadvantage of selfing and the importance of cross-pollen transfer in natural conditions. However, in the small and isolated population of G. lutea subsp. symphyandra on Mt Grande we found a general reduction in seed germination rate, likely due to increased selfing or mating among close relatives as a consequence of a severe bottleneck. We discuss our results with regards to implications for conservation practices.

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“…The pollinator assemblages are made up mostly of bumblebee species (Veiga et al, 2015;Sobral et al, 2015). Previous studies conclude that: (i) Gentiana lutea flower color variation does not result from adaptation to environmental factors, such as elevation, temperature, radiation, and precipitation (Veiga et al, 2016)…”

Section: Manuscript To Be Reviewedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peer Review #1 of "Differences in pollination success between local and foreign flower color phenotypes: a translocation experiment with Gentiana lutea (Gentianaceae) (v0.2)"

2017

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Background. The adaptive maintenance of flower color variation is frequently attributed to pollinators partly because they preferentially visit certain flower phenotypes. We tested whether Gentiana lutea − which shows a flower color variation (from orange to yellow) in the Cantabrian Mountains range (north of Spain) − is locally adapted to the pollinator community. Methods. We transplanted orange-flowering individuals to a population with yellow-flowering individuals and vice versa, in order to assess whether there is a pollination advantage in the local morph by comparing its visitation rate with the foreign morph. Results. Our reciprocal transplant experiment did not show clear local morph advantage in overall visitation rate: local orange flowers received more visits than foreign yellow flowers in the orange population, while both local and foreign flowers received the same visits in the yellow population; thus, there is no evidence of local adaptation in Gentiana lutea to the pollinator assemblage. However, some floral visitor groups (such as Bombus pratorum, B. soroensis ancaricus and B. lapidarius decipiens) consistently preferred the local morph to the foreign morph whereas others (such as Bombus terrestris) consistently preferred the foreign morph. Discussion. We concluded that there is no evidence of local adaptation to the pollinator community in each of the two G. lutea populations studied. The consequences for local adaptation to pollinator on G. lutea flower color would depend on the variation along the Cantabrian Mountains range in morph frequency and pollinator community composition.

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Flower colour variation in the montane plantGentiana luteaL. (Gentianaceae) is unrelated to abiotic factors

Cited by 14 publications

References 44 publications

Flower colour polymorphism in the Mediterranean Basin: occurrence, maintenance and implications for speciation

Flower colour polymorphism in the Mediterranean Basin: occurrence, maintenance and implications for speciation

The effect of pollination mode on seed performance of Gentiana lutea: a laboratory evaluation of seed germinability

Peer Review #1 of "Differences in pollination success between local and foreign flower color phenotypes: a translocation experiment with Gentiana lutea (Gentianaceae) (v0.2)"

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