Reproductive isolation and pollination in Nematanthus Schrad. and Codonanthe (Mart.) Hanst. (Gesneriaceae), two genera of epiphytic plants of the Atlantic Forest

• Grant number: 13/15129-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: February 01, 2014
• End date: October 09, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany - Plant Morphology
• Principal Investigator: Marlies Sazima
• Grantee: Marina Wolowski Torres
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The study of evolution and speciation in plant groups, compiling data from molecular phylogeny, morphology, ecology and geographic distribution, is still new to endemic or extremely diverse groups of the Brazilian flora, such as genera Nematanthus and Codonanthe (Gesneriaceae). This proposal aims to understand the mechanisms that act to the reproductive isolation in the clade that unites the two genera and to assess the extent of hybridization between sympatric species. For this, data from floral morphology and pollination will be collected and used to verify if morphological differences between genera reflect the pollination system and whether these differences contribute to reproductive isolation, by pollinator preference. The literature suggests that floral biology and pollination by bees and hummingbirds within these genera have greater influence on reproductive isolation than phenology and geographic distribution. Although the record of at least five species or morphotypes with intermediate characteristics, and differences between the molecular markers suggest natural hybridization between sympatric species of the genus Nematanthus. The introgression between species will be studied by nuclear and plastid molecular markers and genes of anthocyanin in order to understand if the community of pollinators between sympatric species favors reproductive isolation or contributes to hybridization in Nematanthus. Our expectation is to confirm pollination by bees within the genus Codonanthe and the clade of white flowers of Nematanthus and to register greater introgression between sympatric species that share pollinators.

Scientific publications

(6)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

WOLOWSKI, MARINA; CARVALHEIRO, LUISA G.; FREITAS, LEANDRO. Influence of plant-pollinator interactions on the assembly of plant and hummingbird communities. JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, v. 105, n. 2, p. 332-344, MAR 2017. (13/15129-9)

BERGAMO, PEDRO JOAQUIM; WOLOWSKI, MARINA; TELLES, FRANCISMEIRE JANE; GARCIA DE BRITO, VINICIUS LOURENCO; VARASSIN, ISABELA GALARDA; SAZIMA, MARLIES. Bracts and long-tube flowers of hummingbird-pollinated plants are conspicuous to hummingbirds but not to bees. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, v. 126, n. 3, p. 533-544, MAR 2019. (13/15129-9, 16/06434-0)

BERGAMO, PEDRO JOAQUIM; WOLOWSKI, MARINA; MARUYAMA, PIETRO KIYOSHI; VIZENTIN-BUGONI, JEFERSON; SAZIMA, MARLIES. Trait patterns across space and time suggest an interplay of facilitation and competition acting on Neotropical hummingbird-pollinated plant communities. OIKOS, v. 127, n. 11, p. 1690-1700, NOV 2018. (13/15129-9, 15/21457-4)

BERGAMO, PEDRO JOAQUIM; WOLOWSKI, MARINA; MARUAMA, PIETRO KIYOSHI; VIZENTIN-BUGONI, JEFERSON; CARVALHEIRO, LUISA G.; SAZIMA, MARLIES. The potential indirect effects among plants via shared hummingbird pollinators are structured by phenotypic similarity. ECOLOGY, v. 98, n. 7, p. 1849-1858, JUL 2017. (15/21457-4, 13/15129-9)

NUNES, CARLOS E. P.; WOLOWSKI, MARINA; PANSARIN, EMERSON RICARDO; GERLACH, GUNTER; AXIMOFF, IZAR; VEREECKEN, NICOLAS J.; SALVADOR, MARCOS JOSE; SAZIMA, MARLIES. More than euglossines: the diverse pollinators and floral scents of Zygopetalinae orchids. NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN, v. 104, n. 11-12, DEC 2017. (03/12595-7, 13/15129-9)

MARINA WOLOWSKI; LEANDRO FREITAS. An overview on pollination of the Neotropical Poales. Rodriguésia, v. 66, n. 2, p. 329-336, 2015-06-00. (13/15129-9)