Termination of the stem cells in the floral meristem (also known as floral determinacy) is critical for the reproductive success of plants, and the molecular activities regulating floral determinacy are precisely orchestrated during the course of floral development. In Arabidopsis thaliana, regulators of floral determinacy include several transcription factor genes, such as APETALA2 (AP2), AGAM...

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Controversy is ongoing regarding the importance of pollinator-mediated selection as a source of observed patterns of floral diversity. Although increasing evidence exists of pollinator-mediated selection acting on female reproductive success, there is still limited understanding of pollinator-mediated selection on floral traits via male reproductive success. Here we quantif...

Pyrolysis Mass Spectrometry (Py-MS) was used to investigate discrimination of honey samples from different floral (ten) and geographical (seven) origins. The data were analysed statistically (using Principal Component and Discriminant Factor Analysis) in order to check the possibility of the use of these profiles for characterising the botanical source of honey. Py-MS showed as a very useful to...

Honey and propolis are rich in phenolic compounds, which act as natural antioxidants, and are becoming increasingly popular because of their potential role in contributing to human health. These compounds can also be used as indicators in studies into the floral and geographical origin of the honey and propolis themselves. We present here an overview of current analytical methods for measuring ...

The quinic acid derivatives (including 4-feruoyl quinic and 5-ferruoyl quinic acids characterized for first time in propolis samples) and other phenolic compounds were quantified in thirteen Brazilian propolis samples by HPLC analysis. For chemometrical analysis, the distribution of quinic acid derivatives and other phenolic compounds were considered. The results suggest that the Brazilian prop...

Floral stem cells produce a defined number of floral organs before ceasing to be maintained as stem cells. Therefore, floral stem cells offer an ideal model to study the temporal control of stem cell maintenance within a developmental context. AGAMOUS (AG), a MADS domain transcription factor essential for the termination of floral stem cell fate, has long been thought to repress the stem cell m...

We tested for an association between nectar and various floral traits and investigated their roles as primary and secondary pollinator attractants in hummingbird-pollinated Silene virginica. Our goal was to gain insight into the mechanisms of pollinator-mediated selection that underlies floral trait divergence within the genus. In a field population of S. virginica, we measured five floral and ...

The relative number of seeds produced by competing species can influence the community structure; yet, traits that influence seed production, such as pollinator attraction and floral colour, have received little attention in community ecology. Here, we analyse floral colour using reflectance spectra that include near-UV and examined the phylogenetic signal of floral colour. We found that coflow...

Intraspecific variation in plants is driven by both genetic and environmental factors and has been shown to play an important role in determining assemblages of herbivores, predators, and pathogens. Yet, the consequences of genetic (G) and environmental (E) factors, as well as potential (G3E) interactions, for floral visitor communities remains poorly explored. In a common garden experiment, we...

The emission of floral terpenes plays a key role in pollination in many plant species. We hypothesized that the floral phyllospheric microbiota could significantly influence these floral terpene emissions because microorganisms also produce and emit terpenes. We tested this hypothesis by analyzing the effect of removing the microbiota from flowers. We fumigated Sambucus nigra L. plants, includi...