| Full text | |
| Author(s): |
Teixeira, Simone P.
[1]
;
Costa, Marina F. B.
[1, 2]
;
Basso-Alves, Joao Paulo
[3, 2]
;
Kjellberg, Finn
[4]
;
Pereira, Rodrigo A. S.
[5]
Total Authors: 5
|
| Affiliation: | [1] Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Ciencias Farmaceut Ribeirao Preto, Av Cafe S-N, BR-14040903 Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil
[2] Univ Estadual Campinas, Inst Biol, PPG Biol Vegetal, Caixa Postal 6109, BR-13083970 Campinas, SP - Brazil
[3] Inst Pesquisa Jardim Bot Rio de Janeiro, DIPEQ, Rua Pacheco Leao 915, BR-22460030 Rio De Janeiro, RJ - Brazil
[4] Univ Montpellier, Univ Paul Valery Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, CEFE UMR 5175, 1919 Route Mende, F-34293 Montpellier 5 - France
[5] Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Filosofia Ciencias & Letras Ribeirao Preto, Av Bandeirantes 3900, BR-14040903 Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil
Total Affiliations: 5
|
| Document type: | Journal article |
| Source: | Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society; v. 195, n. 1, p. 93-105, JAN 2021. |
| Web of Science Citations: | 0 |
| Abstract | |
The synstigma is a structure formed by clusters of two to several stigmas, whether in the same or between different flowers. Although rare in angiosperms, synstigmas are found in c. 500 out of the c. 750 Ficus spp. (Moraceae). This floral structure is associated with fig-fig wasp pollinating mutualism. The synstigma structure and pollen tube pathways were studied in six Ficus spp. from Ficus section Americanae to test the hypothesis that the synstigma allows pollen grains deposited on a stigma to emit pollen tubes that can grow laterally and fertilize surrounding flowers. Syconia containing recently pollinated stigmas were collected and dissected, and the stigmas were processed for analyses with light and scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The arrangement of the synstigmas across species can be spaced or congested, with the number of stigmas per synstigma ranging from two to 20. Contact between the stigmas in a synstigma occurs by the intertwining of the stigmatic branches and papillae; their union is firm or loose. The pollen tube grows through live cells of the transmitting tissue until reaching the ovule micropyle. Curved pollen tubes growing from one stigma to another were observed in five out of the six species studied. The curvilinear morphology of pollen tubes probably results from competition by pollen between the stigmas composing a synstigma via chemotropic signals. The synstigma appears to be a key adaptation that ensures seed production by flowers not exploited by the fig wasps in actively pollinated Ficus spp. (AU) | |
| FAPESP's process: | 12/02374-2 - Synstigma of neotropical species of Ficus L. (Moraceae) and its role in fig-fig wasp mutualism |
| Grantee: | Marina Fernanda Bortolin Costa |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate |
| FAPESP's process: | 14/07453-3 - Floral development of urticalean rosids |
| Grantee: | Simone de Pádua Teixeira |
| Support Opportunities: | Regular Research Grants |