Influence of sex‐organ positions on pollen transfer and self‐interference in plants with stylar polymorphisms: An experimental approach using three‐dimensional printed flowers
[EN] Heterostylous plants are defined by the reciprocal positioning of stigmas and anthers in floral morphs—a trait proposed by Darwin to enhance the efficiency of disassortative (intermorph) pollen transfer. This floral polymorphism may also reduce gamete wastage by minimizing sexual interference b...
| Autores: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2025 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad de León |
| Repositorio: | BULERIA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de León |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:buleria.unileon.es:10612/27164 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.70104 https://hdl.handle.net/10612/27164 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Biología Botánica Artificial flowers Bombus impatiens Disassortative pollination Heterostyly Self-interference Stylar polymorphisms 2417 Biología Vegetal (Botánica) 3107.03 Floricultura |
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Influence of sex‐organ positions on pollen transfer and self‐interference in plants with stylar polymorphisms: An experimental approach using three‐dimensional printed flowersFerrero Vaquero, VictoriaNavarro Echeverría, LuisThomson, James D., 1950-Barrett, Spencer Charles Hilton, 1948-BiologíaBotánicaArtificial flowersBombus impatiensDisassortative pollinationHeterostylySelf-interferenceStylar polymorphisms2417 Biología Vegetal (Botánica)3107.03 Floricultura[EN] Heterostylous plants are defined by the reciprocal positioning of stigmas and anthers in floral morphs—a trait proposed by Darwin to enhance the efficiency of disassortative (intermorph) pollen transfer. This floral polymorphism may also reduce gamete wastage by minimizing sexual interference between male and female reproductive organs. In distylous species, two floral morphs occur: a long-styled morph with stigmas positioned above the anthers and a short-styled morph with stigmas below the anthers. A related floral polymorphism, known as stigma-height dimorphism, involves variation in stigma height but not anther placement. To test how floral architecture influences pollen transfer and reproductive interference, we used 3D-printed artificial flowers based on Petunia grandiflora, incorporating real styles and anthers from glasshouse-grown plants. These artificial flowers simulated distyly and two forms of stigma-height dimorphism. In flight cage experiments, captive bumblebees (Bombus impatiens) from commercial colonies facilitated pollen transfer within and between flowers. We measured pollen grain deposition on stigmas and styles, as well as residual pollen in donor anthers. Our results provided partial support for Darwin's hypothesis: in distylous arrays, reciprocal sex-organ placement enhanced intermorph pollen deposition, especially in the short-styled morph. Bumblebee foraging time influenced pollen load, with longer visits to long-styled flowers resulting in increased pollen deposition. Patterns of self-pollen deposition—a form of reproductive interference—varied with the degree of spatial separation between sexual organs. As expected, stigma-height dimorphic arrays exhibited higher self-pollen transfer than distylous arrays. While not conclusive, our findings emphasize the role of floral morphology in shaping pollination dispersal, self-interference and pollinator behaviour. The use of three-dimensional printed flowers demonstrates a promising experimental approach for future studies on plant–pollinator interactions and the functional significance of floral design. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blogSIThe authors thank Hannah Fung and Maria Machicote for helping during experimentation and Enrique Garcia de la Riva for helping with the statistical analyses. This research was supported by MCI-Programa de Internacionalización de la ICD (PT2009-0068) of the Spanish DGICYT (CGL2009-10466 and CGL2013-45941), the Xunta de Galicia (INCITE09-3103009PR, CITACA and R2014/036). FCT supported the work of VF (SFRH/BPD/108707/2015). SCHB and JDT were supported by Discovery Grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of CanadaWileyBritish Ecological SocietyBotanicaFacultad de Ciencias Biologicas y Ambientales2025info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttps://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.70104https://hdl.handle.net/10612/27164reponame:BULERIA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Leóninstname:Universidad de LeónInglésinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MICINN/Programa Nacional de proyectos de Investigación Fundamental/CGL2009-10466info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MINECO/Programa Estatal de Fomento de la Investigación Científica y Técnica de Excelencia/CGL2013-45941-Phttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:buleria.unileon.es:10612/271642026-06-24T12:43:27Z |
| dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Influence of sex‐organ positions on pollen transfer and self‐interference in plants with stylar polymorphisms: An experimental approach using three‐dimensional printed flowers |
| title |
Influence of sex‐organ positions on pollen transfer and self‐interference in plants with stylar polymorphisms: An experimental approach using three‐dimensional printed flowers |
| spellingShingle |
Influence of sex‐organ positions on pollen transfer and self‐interference in plants with stylar polymorphisms: An experimental approach using three‐dimensional printed flowers Ferrero Vaquero, Victoria Biología Botánica Artificial flowers Bombus impatiens Disassortative pollination Heterostyly Self-interference Stylar polymorphisms 2417 Biología Vegetal (Botánica) 3107.03 Floricultura |
| title_short |
Influence of sex‐organ positions on pollen transfer and self‐interference in plants with stylar polymorphisms: An experimental approach using three‐dimensional printed flowers |
| title_full |
Influence of sex‐organ positions on pollen transfer and self‐interference in plants with stylar polymorphisms: An experimental approach using three‐dimensional printed flowers |
| title_fullStr |
Influence of sex‐organ positions on pollen transfer and self‐interference in plants with stylar polymorphisms: An experimental approach using three‐dimensional printed flowers |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Influence of sex‐organ positions on pollen transfer and self‐interference in plants with stylar polymorphisms: An experimental approach using three‐dimensional printed flowers |
| title_sort |
Influence of sex‐organ positions on pollen transfer and self‐interference in plants with stylar polymorphisms: An experimental approach using three‐dimensional printed flowers |
| dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv |
Ferrero Vaquero, Victoria Navarro Echeverría, Luis Thomson, James D., 1950- Barrett, Spencer Charles Hilton, 1948- |
| author |
Ferrero Vaquero, Victoria |
| author_facet |
Ferrero Vaquero, Victoria Navarro Echeverría, Luis Thomson, James D., 1950- Barrett, Spencer Charles Hilton, 1948- |
| author_role |
author |
| author2 |
Navarro Echeverría, Luis Thomson, James D., 1950- Barrett, Spencer Charles Hilton, 1948- |
| author2_role |
author author author |
| dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv |
Botanica Facultad de Ciencias Biologicas y Ambientales |
| dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv |
Biología Botánica Artificial flowers Bombus impatiens Disassortative pollination Heterostyly Self-interference Stylar polymorphisms 2417 Biología Vegetal (Botánica) 3107.03 Floricultura |
| topic |
Biología Botánica Artificial flowers Bombus impatiens Disassortative pollination Heterostyly Self-interference Stylar polymorphisms 2417 Biología Vegetal (Botánica) 3107.03 Floricultura |
| description |
[EN] Heterostylous plants are defined by the reciprocal positioning of stigmas and anthers in floral morphs—a trait proposed by Darwin to enhance the efficiency of disassortative (intermorph) pollen transfer. This floral polymorphism may also reduce gamete wastage by minimizing sexual interference between male and female reproductive organs. In distylous species, two floral morphs occur: a long-styled morph with stigmas positioned above the anthers and a short-styled morph with stigmas below the anthers. A related floral polymorphism, known as stigma-height dimorphism, involves variation in stigma height but not anther placement. To test how floral architecture influences pollen transfer and reproductive interference, we used 3D-printed artificial flowers based on Petunia grandiflora, incorporating real styles and anthers from glasshouse-grown plants. These artificial flowers simulated distyly and two forms of stigma-height dimorphism. In flight cage experiments, captive bumblebees (Bombus impatiens) from commercial colonies facilitated pollen transfer within and between flowers. We measured pollen grain deposition on stigmas and styles, as well as residual pollen in donor anthers. Our results provided partial support for Darwin's hypothesis: in distylous arrays, reciprocal sex-organ placement enhanced intermorph pollen deposition, especially in the short-styled morph. Bumblebee foraging time influenced pollen load, with longer visits to long-styled flowers resulting in increased pollen deposition. Patterns of self-pollen deposition—a form of reproductive interference—varied with the degree of spatial separation between sexual organs. As expected, stigma-height dimorphic arrays exhibited higher self-pollen transfer than distylous arrays. While not conclusive, our findings emphasize the role of floral morphology in shaping pollination dispersal, self-interference and pollinator behaviour. The use of three-dimensional printed flowers demonstrates a promising experimental approach for future studies on plant–pollinator interactions and the functional significance of floral design. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog |
| publishDate |
2025 |
| dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2025 |
| dc.type.none.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
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article |
| status_str |
publishedVersion |
| dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv |
https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.70104 https://hdl.handle.net/10612/27164 |
| url |
https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.70104 https://hdl.handle.net/10612/27164 |
| dc.language.none.fl_str_mv |
Inglés |
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Inglés |
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info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MICINN/Programa Nacional de proyectos de Investigación Fundamental/CGL2009-10466 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MINECO/Programa Estatal de Fomento de la Investigación Científica y Técnica de Excelencia/CGL2013-45941-P |
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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
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openAccess |
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Wiley British Ecological Society |
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Wiley British Ecological Society |
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reponame:BULERIA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de León instname:Universidad de León |
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Universidad de León |
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BULERIA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de León |
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BULERIA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de León |
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