Yeasts in floral nectar of some South African plants: Quantification and associations with pollinator type and sugar concentration

Vega, Clara de; Herrera, Carlos M.; Johnson, Steven D.

doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2009.07.016

Cited by 100 publications

(97 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Along with findings from previous work [9, 14, 23, 26, 27, 44], the non-random distribution patterns we have reported in this paper reinforce the prospect of these microfungal species as a useful model system for understanding the role of dispersal in determining microbial distribution. Future research should more directly investigate dispersal limitation through both observations and experiments.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…Nectar-inhabiting microfungi in Europe, South Africa and elsewhere seem to be characterized by a similarly low level of species diversity, with M. reukaufii being one of the dominant species [9, 14, 26, 27, 34, 43]. These studies, combined with our results, indicate that nectar-inhabiting microfungal communities in geographically distant locations may consist of similar species, suggesting the possibility that nectar-inhabiting microfungi have a high capacity for long-distance dispersal, yet show dispersal limitation within local areas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Floral nectar is initially sterile, and microfungi disperse to flowers on bees, birds and other pollinators [14], whose movement is more readily traceable than that of the microbes themselves. Flowers are discrete, island-like habitats, and microbial metapopulations can be analyzed at multiple scales within and between plants, which function as microbial “archipelagos.” Moreover, only a small number of species can inhabit floral nectar due to high sugar content (about 20-50%) [27, 28] and antimicrobial compounds [35], making them relatively simple to analyze compared with other microbial communities [11, 35].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Flowers as Islands: Spatial Distribution of Nectar-Inhabiting Microfungi among Plants of Mimulus aurantiacus, a Hummingbird-Pollinated Shrub

2011

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Microfungi inhabiting floral nectar offer unique opportunities for the study of microbial distribution and the role that dispersal limitation may play in generating distribution patterns. Flowers are well-replicated habitat islands, among which the microbes disperse via pollinators. This metapopulation system allows for investigation of microbial distribution at multiple spatial scales. We examined the distribution of the yeast, Metschnikowia reukaufii, and other fungal species found in the floral nectar of the sticky monkey flower, Mimulus aurantiacus, a hummingbird-pollinated shrub, at a California site. We found that the frequency of nectar-inhabiting microfungi on a given host plant was not significantly correlated with light availability, nectar volume or the percent cover of M. aurantiacus around the plant, but was significantly correlated with the location of the host plant and loosely correlated with the density of flowers on the plant. These results suggest that dispersal limitation caused by spatially non-random foraging by pollinators may be a primary factor driving the observed distribution pattern.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Flowers as Islands: Spatial Distribution of Nectar-Inhabiting Microfungi among Plants of Mimulus aurantiacus, a Hummingbird-Pollinated Shrub

2011

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“…Recent quantitative surveys have documented very high frequencies of occurrence and extraordinary population densities of yeasts in nectar of animal-pollinated plants from three continents (Brysch-Herzberg 2004;Herrera et al 2009;de Vega et al 2009). Nectar yeasts, particularly at high densities, induce metabolic degradation of nectar, which can be detrimental to plant reproduction through reduced pollinator service .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inhospitable sweetness: nectar filtering of pollinator-borne inocula leads to impoverished, phylogenetically clustered yeast communities

et al. 2009

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Identifying the rules and mechanisms that determine the composition and diversity of naturally co-occurring species assemblages is a central topic in community ecology. Although micro-organisms represent the 'unseen majority' of species, individuals and biomass in many ecosystems and play pivotal roles in community development and function, the study of the factors influencing the assembly of microbial communities has lagged behind that of plant and animal communities. In this paper, we investigate experimentally the mechanisms accounting for the low species richness of yeast communities inhabiting the nectar of the bumble-bee-pollinated Helleborus foetidus (Ranunculaceae), and explore the relationships between community assembly rules and phylogenetic relatedness. By comparing yeast communities on the glossae of foraging bumble-bees (the potential species pool) with those eventually establishing in virgin nectar probed with bee glossae (the realized community), we address the questions: (i) does nectar filter yeast inocula, so that the communities eventually established there are not random subsamples of species on bumble-bee glossae? and (ii) do yeast communities establishing in H. foetidus nectar exhibit some phylogenetic bias relative to the species pool on bumble-bee glossae? Results show that nectar filtering leads to species-poor, phylogenetically clustered yeast communities that are a predictable subset of pollinator-borne inocula. Such strong habitat filtering is probably due to H. foetidus nectar representing a harsh environment for most yeasts, where only a few phylogenetically related nectar specialists physiologically endowed to tolerate a combination of high osmotic pressure and fungicidal compounds are able to develop.

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“…Most yeast species isolated from flowers are supposedly nectar-inhabiting yeasts. Dense yeast communities often occur in the floral nectar of animal-pollinated plants, where they can behave as parasites of plant-pollinator mutualisms (Brysch-Herzberg 2004;Canto et al 2008;Herrera et al 2008de Vega et al 2009). Nectar yeasts, particularly at high densities, induce metabolic degradation of nectar, which can be detrimental to plant reproduction through reduced pollinator service ).…”

Section: The Yeasts In Plant Substrates: Leaves Flowers and Fruitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Yeasts Biodiversity and Its Significance: Case Studies in Natural and Human-Related Environments, Ex Situ Preservation, Applications and Challenges

Barriga¹,

Libkind²,

Briones³

et al. 2011

Changing Diversity in Changing Environment

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As everybody knows, the dynamic interactions between biotic and abiotic factors, as well as the anthropic ones, considerably affect global climate changes and consequently biology, ecology and distribution of life forms of our planet. These important natural events affect all ecosystems, causing important changes on biodiversity. Systematic and phylogenetic studies, biogeographic distribution analysis and evaluations of diversity richness are focal topics of this book written by international experts, some even considering economical effects and future perspectives on the managing and conservation plans.

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Yeasts in floral nectar of some South African plants: Quantification and associations with pollinator type and sugar concentration

Cited by 100 publications

References 53 publications

Flowers as Islands: Spatial Distribution of Nectar-Inhabiting Microfungi among Plants of Mimulus aurantiacus, a Hummingbird-Pollinated Shrub

Flowers as Islands: Spatial Distribution of Nectar-Inhabiting Microfungi among Plants of Mimulus aurantiacus, a Hummingbird-Pollinated Shrub

Inhospitable sweetness: nectar filtering of pollinator-borne inocula leads to impoverished, phylogenetically clustered yeast communities

Yeasts Biodiversity and Its Significance: Case Studies in Natural and Human-Related Environments, Ex Situ Preservation, Applications and Challenges

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