The ecology and evolution of fly dispersed dung mosses (Family Splachnaceae): Manipulating insect behaviour through odour and visual cues

Marino, Paul C.; Raguso, Robert A.; Goffinet, Bernard

doi:10.1007/bf03182289

Cited by 47 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Moreover, bioassays performed using artificial flowers show that fly attraction is greater when foul-scented baits are present and visual cues (i.e., white flowers) contribute to attraction but in a direction contra the J. rotacea floral phenotype. These results place J. rotacea among a growing list of flowering plants, mosses, and fungi worldwide that utilize sulfur volatiles to attract saprophilous flies as pollen or spore vectors (Marino et al 2009;Johnson and Jü rgens 2010;Urru et al 2011). We discuss ecological and evolutionary aspects of carrion mimicry as it relates to this unusual genus of nightshade plants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the attracted fly species are not exactly the same, our findings support the idea that oligosulfide volatiles function as a universal signal to attract flies that use carrion or carnivore feces as brood sites. Accordingly, these sulfide compounds are present in different groups of living organisms (e.g., plants, dung mosses, and unrelated groups of fungi) that use saprophilous flies as dispersal agents of pollen or spores (Marino et al 2009;Vereecken and McNeil 2010;Urru et al 2011). By producing volatile oligosulfide compounds, diverse organisms in different geographical regions may reliably attract the same potential dispersal agents (BorgKarlson et al 1994;Stensmyr et al 2002;Bä nziger and Pape 2004;Ollerton and Raguso 2006;Johnson and Jü rgens 2010;van der Niet et al 2011).…”

Section: Bioassays Using Foul-scented Baits and Artificial Flowersmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Importance of Oligosulfides in the Attraction of Fly Pollinators to the Brood-Site Deceptive SpeciesJaborosa rotacea(Solanaceae)

Moré

Cocucci

Raguso

2013

International Journal of Plant Sciences

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Premise of research. Brood-site deceptive flowers use dishonest signals-especially floral odors that mimic oviposition substrates-to attract and deceive saprophilous insects to pollinate them. In this work, we recorded the pollinators of the sapromyiophilous species Jaborosa rotacea (Solanaceae) endemic to southern South America. Then, we characterized the floral volatiles of this species, and finally, we carried out field experiments to decouple the effects of scent and color as attractants for saprophilous flies.Methodology. We made direct observations of pollinators in a natural population of J. rotacea. We characterized floral volatiles by means of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Subsequently, we used a mixture of 2 oligosulfides (dimethyl disulfide and dimethyl trisulfide), which our analyses revealed were the main constituents of the floral scent of J. rotacea, as baits to determine the attractiveness of this olfactory signal to flies in a geographical region where J. rotacea is not present. Finally, we used the same foul-scented baits in arrays of artificial flowers resembling those of J. rotacea to assess the dual importance of olfactory and visual cues in fly attraction.Pivotal results. Pollination of J. rotacea occurs when saprophilous flies belonging to the families Calliphoridae, Muscidae, and Sarcophagidae-with similar body dimensions to the anther-stigma distance in these flowers-acquire and deposit pollen in the flowers in a nototribic mode. Our chemical analyses revealed that J. rotacea floral scent is chemically simple and features 2 oligosulfide compounds (dimethyl disulfide and dimethyl trisulfide) commonly found in carrion-mimicking flowers. We found that saprophilous flies belonging to the same families that we recorded as pollinators of J. rotacea in its native South American habitat were attracted to foul-scented baits in temperate North America. The flies' visitation frequencies (recorded as approaches and landings on the artificial flowers) depended significantly on the presence of the foul-scented baits.Conclusions. These results support the hypothesis that oligosulfides are universally effective signals by which deceptive flowers may effect pollen dispersal by attracting flies that use carrion or carnivore feces as brood sites.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Bioassays Using Foul-scented Baits and Artificial Flowersmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Importance of Oligosulfides in the Attraction of Fly Pollinators to the Brood-Site Deceptive SpeciesJaborosa rotacea(Solanaceae)

Moré

Cocucci

Raguso

2013

International Journal of Plant Sciences

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“…Yet, the significantly higher sporophyte number observed in the two monoicous species, B. patens and H. antarctica, under passive warming suggests that warming might differentially impact the reproductive effort and success of dioicous and monoicous species (at least in the near term) on the WAP. Any increase in moss reproductive effort in terrestrial Antarctica has the potential to alter the biotic landscape significantly given that moss spores disperse readily via wind (Muñoz et al, 2004), water (Pollux et al, 2009), and invertebrate (Marino et al, 2009) and bird vectors (Lewis et al, 2014).…”

Section: Warming Does Not Impact Antarctic Moss Community Compositionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Passive warming reduces stress and shifts reproductive effort in the Antarctic moss,Polytrichastrum alpinum

Shortlidge

Eppley

Köhler

et al. 2016

Ann Bot

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Background and Aims The Western Antarctic Peninsula is one of the most rapidly warming regions on Earth, and many biotic communities inhabiting this dynamic region are responding to these well-documented climatic shifts. Yet some of the most prevalent organisms of terrestrial Antarctica, the mosses, and their responses to warming have been relatively overlooked and understudied. In this research, the impacts of 6 years of passive warming were investigated using open top chambers (OTCs), on moss communities of Fildes Peninsula, King George Island, Antarctica.Methods The effects of experimental passive warming on the morphology, sexual reproductive effort and stress physiology of a common dioicous Antarctic moss, Polytrichastrum alpinum, were tested, gaining the first speciesspecific mechanistic insight into moss responses to warming in the Antarctic. Additionally community analyses were conducted examining the impact of warming on overall moss percentage cover and sporophyte production in intact Antarctic moss communities.Key Results Our results show a generally greater percentage moss cover under warming conditions as well as increased gametangia production in P. alpinum. Distinct morphological and physiological shifts in P. alpinum were found under passive warming compared with those without warming: warmed mosses reduced investment in cellular stress defences, but invested more towards primary productivity and gametangia development.Conclusions Taken together, results from this study of mosses under passive warming imply that in ice-free moss-dominated regions, continued climate warming will probably have profound impacts on moss biology and colonization along the Western Antarctic Peninsula. Such findings highlight the fundamental role that mosses will play in influencing the terrestrialization of a warming Antarctica.

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“…Similarly, some fungi and mosses emit fetid odors that attract flies and thus enhance their spore dispersal (Fischer and Vicha 2003;Marino et al 2009;Tuno 1998). Indeed, previous studies have indicated that convergent evolution of carrion or fecal scent mimicry in angiosperms and fungi may continually occur in natural communities (Johnson and Jürgens 2010;Vereecken and McNeil 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Spore Dispersal of Fetid Lysurus mokusin by Feces of Mycophagous Insects

2014

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The ecological roles and biological mechanisms of zoochory in plants have long been foci in studies of co-evolutionary processes between plants and animals. However, the dispersal of fungal spores by animals has received comparatively little attention. In this study, the dispersal of spores of a selected fetid fungus, Lysurus mokusin, via feces of mycophagous insects was explored by: collecting volatiles emitted by the fungus using dynamic headspace extraction and analyzing them by GC-MS; testing the capacity of mycophagous insects to disperse its spores by counting spores in their feces; comparing the germinability of L. mokusin spores extracted from feces of nocturnal earwigs and natural gleba of the fungus; and assessing the ability of L. mokusin volatiles to attract insects in bioassays with synthetic scent mixtures. Numerous spores were detected in insects' feces, the bioassays indicated that L. mokusin odor (similar to that of decaying substances) attracts diverse generalist mycophagous insects, and passage through the gut of Anisolabis maritima earwigs significantly enhanced the germination rate of L. mokusin spores. Therefore, nocturnal earwigs and diurnal flies probably play important roles in dispersal of L. mokusin spores, and dispersal via feces may be an important common dispersal mechanism for fungal reproductive tissue.

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The ecology and evolution of fly dispersed dung mosses (Family Splachnaceae): Manipulating insect behaviour through odour and visual cues

Cited by 47 publications

References 53 publications

The Importance of Oligosulfides in the Attraction of Fly Pollinators to the Brood-Site Deceptive SpeciesJaborosa rotacea(Solanaceae)

The Importance of Oligosulfides in the Attraction of Fly Pollinators to the Brood-Site Deceptive SpeciesJaborosa rotacea(Solanaceae)

Passive warming reduces stress and shifts reproductive effort in the Antarctic moss,Polytrichastrum alpinum

Spore Dispersal of Fetid Lysurus mokusin by Feces of Mycophagous Insects

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