Green flowers need yellow to get noticed in a green world.

Background And Aims: Flower colour is a key feature in plant-pollinator interactions that make the flowers visible amid the surrounding green vegetation. Green flowers are expected to be scarcely conspicuous to pollinators; however, many of them are visited by pollinators even in the absence of other traits that might attract pollinators (e.g.

Genomic-Guided Conservation Actions to Restore the Most Endangered Conifer in the Mediterranean Basin.

Species with extremely small population sizes are critically endangered because of reduced genetic diversity, increased inbreeding and hybridisation threats. Genomic tools significantly advance conservation by revealing genetic insights into endangered species, notably in monitoring frameworks. Sicilian fir (Abies nebrodensis) is the most endangered conifer in Europe with only 30 adult trees in an 84-ha area.

A multiscale approach to understanding the shared blue-orange flower color polymorphism in two Lysimachia species.

Background: Polymorphisms are common in nature, but they are rarely shared among closely related species. Polymorphisms could originate through convergence, ancestral polymorphism, or introgression. Although shared neutral genomic variation across species is commonplace, few examples of shared functional traits exist.

Better soon than never: climate change induces strong phenological reassembly in the flowering of a Mediterranean shrub community.

● Flowering is a key process in the life cycle of a plant. Climate change is shifting flowering phenologies in the Northern Hemisphere, but studies with long data series at community level are scarce, and even more so those regarding the consequences of phenological changes for emerging ecological interactions. In the Mediterranean region, the effects of climate change are stronger than the global average and there is an urgent need to understand how biodiversity will be affected in this area.

Changes at a Critical Branchpoint in the Anthocyanin Biosynthetic Pathway Underlie the Blue to Orange Flower Color Transition in .

Anthocyanins are the primary pigments contributing to the variety of flower colors among angiosperms and are considered essential for survival and reproduction. Anthocyanins are members of the flavonoids, a broader class of secondary metabolites, of which there are numerous structural genes and regulators thereof. In western European populations of , there are blue- and orange-petaled individuals.

Indirect Selection on Flower Color in .

Flower color, as other floral traits, may suffer conflicting selective pressures mediated by both mutualists and antagonists. The maintenance of intraspecific flower color variability has been usually explained as a result of direct selection by biotic agents. However, flower color might also be under indirect selection through correlated traits, since correlations among flower traits are frequent.

Reproductive Assurance Maintains Red-Flowered Plants of in Mediterranean Populations Despite Inbreeding Depression.

Flower color polymorphism, an infrequent but phylogenetically widespread condition in plants, is captivating because it can only be maintained under a few selective regimes but also because it can drive intra-morph assortative mating and promote speciation. is a polymorphic species with red or blue flowered morphs. In polymorphic populations, which are mostly Mediterranean, pollinators prefer blue-flowered plants to the red ones, and abiotic factors also favors blue-flowered plants.

A lifeline in the dark: Breaking through the stigma of veteran mental health and treating America's combat veterans.

For generations, veterans have answered the call to service and served their country honorably and with distinction. Unfortunately, the consequences of combat cause many veterans to struggle with life after the military and with readjustment/reintegration into civilian life. Today more than ever, there are a multitude of resources, education, and treatment options for combat veterans.

The link between selfing and greater dispersibility in a heterocarpic Asteraceae.

Premise Of The Study: Although an evolutionary link between breeding system and dispersibility has been proposed, to date empirical data and theoretical models of plants show contrasting trends.

Methods: We tested two competing hypotheses for the association between breeding systems and dispersibility in the heterocarpic Hypochaeris salzmanniana (Asteraceae) by using both an experimental approach and surveys over 2 years of five natural populations along an environmental cline with a gradient of pollinator availability.

Key Results: Hypochaeris salzmanniana produced two types of fruits, beaked (BF) and nonbeaked (NBF), which differ in their dispersal ability.

Characterization of nuclear microsatellite markers for Rumex bucephalophorus (Polygonaceae) using 454 sequencing.

Premise Of The Study: Nuclear microsatellite markers were developed in Rumex bucephalophorus subsp. canariensis (Polygonaceae) to investigate its genetic diversity and structure.

Methods And Results: Sixteen polymorphic microsatellite markers were obtained using 454 next-generation sequencing with di-, tri-, and tetranucleotide repeats.

Do chromosome numbers reflect phylogeny? New counts for Bombacoideae and a review of Malvaceae s.l.

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Premise Of The Study: Whole genome duplication (WGD) and specific polyploidy events marked turning points for angiosperm genome structure and evolution. Therefore, cytogenetic studies of polyploidy-prone groups such as the tropical Malvaceae and plant formations such as as the Brazilian Cerrado have gained further importance. We present new chromosome counts for Cerrado Bombacoideae and revised chromosome numbers for the Malvaceae s.

Phylogeography and seed dispersal in islands: the case of Rumex bucephalophorus subsp. canariensis (Polygonaceae).

Background And Aims: Rumex bucephalophorus subsp. canariensis is an endemic taxon to Macaronesia with diaspore polymorphism. The origin and colonizing route of this taxon in Macaronesia was studied using molecular data and information on diaspore types.

Linking self-incompatibility, dichogamy, and flowering synchrony in two Euphorbia species: alternative mechanisms for avoiding self-fertilization?

Background: Plant species have several mechanisms to avoid selfing such as dichogamy or a self-incompatibility response. Dichogamy in a single flower may reduce autogamy but, to avoid geitonogamy, plants must show flowering synchronization among all their flowers (i.e.

Anatomical relations among endophytic holoparasitic angiosperms, autotrophic host plants and mycorrhizal fungi: A novel tripartite interaction.

Mycorrhizae are widespread mutualistic symbioses crucial for the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. Not all plants associate with mycorrhizae; most parasitic plants have been suggested to be nonmycorrhizal because they have developed alternative strategies to obtain nutrients. In endophytic parasitic plants, whose vegetative bodies grow completely inside their mycorrhizal host roots, the opportunity for establishing a tripartite association seems evident, but information on these systems is lacking.

Mycorrhizal fungi and parasitic plants: Reply.

In a recent study (American Journal of Botany 97: 730-737), we described the first case of a tripartite association in natural conditions among a holoparasitic plant (Cytinus), its host Cistaceae species, and mycorrhizal fungi at an anatomical level. In a letter to the editor, Brundrett (American Journal of Botany 98: 595-596) commented on our manuscript and questioned our conclusions, arguing that they are not adequately supported by the data. We reject this point of view and believe that the controversy has arisen because of the parasitic way of life of Cytinus.

Endozoochory by beetles: a novel seed dispersal mechanism.

Background And Aims: Due in part to biophysical sized-related constraints, insects unlike vertebrates are seldom expected to act as primary seed dispersers via ingestion of fruits and seeds (endozoochory). The Mediterranean parasitic plant Cytinus hypocistis, however, possesses some characteristics that may facilitate endozoochory by beetles. By combining a long-term field study with experimental manipulation, we tested whether C.

The role of resources and architecture in modeling floral variability for the monoecious amphicarpic Emex spinosa (Polygonaceae).

Determining the sources of floral variation is crucial to the understanding of floral evolution. Architectural effects and phenotypic plasticity in development can play an important role in intraplant floral variation, giving rise to gender dimorphism or sexual specialization. Amphicarpic plants have another source of floral variation that could also be influenced by positional effects.

The ant-pollination system of Cytinus hypocistis (Cytinaceae), a Mediterranean root holoparasite.

Background And Aims: The genus Cytinus is composed of rootless, stemless and leafless parasites whose flowers are only visible during the reproductive period when they arise from the host tissues. Most of the taxa occur in Madagascar and South Africa, where mammal pollination has been suggested for one species. There is only one species in the Mediterranean region, and its pollination system has been unknown.

Genetic races associated with the genera and sections of host species in the holoparasitic plant Cytinus (Cytinaceae) in the Western Mediterranean basin.

* Speciation via race formation is an important evolutionary process in parasites, producing changes that favour their development on particular host species. Here, the holoparasitic plant Cytinus, which has diverse host species in the family Cistaceae, has been used to study the occurrence of such races. * Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analyses were performed on 174 individuals of 22 populations parasitizing 10 Cistaceae species in the Western Mediterranean basin.

Sexual dimorphism in the andromonoecious Euphorbia nicaeensis: effects of gender and inflorescence development.

Background And Aims: In andromonoecious taxa with separate floral types along the inflorescence, architectural or plastic effects can simulate floral sexual dimorphism. Both the primary and secondary sexual characteristics of the cyathia of the protogynous andromonoecious species Euphorbia nicaeensis were analysed according to their sex and arrangement on the inflorescence.

Methods: The production of male and hermaphrodite cyathia at each inflorescence level was surveyed in two natural populations.

The endophytic system of mediterranean Cytinus (cytinaceae) developing on five host Cistaceae species.

Background And Aims: One of the most extreme manifestations of parasitism is found in the genus Cytinus, a holoparasite whose vegetative body is reduced to an endophytic system living within its host root. There are two species of Cytinus in the Mediterranean, C. hypocistis and C.

A multi-year study of factors affecting fruit production in Aristolochia paucinervis (Aristolochiaceae).

Pollen limitation, resource limitation, fruit abortion, and predation have all been proposed as factors explaining low fruit set in hermaphroditic plants. We conducted a 5-year study combining field observations and pollination experiments to determine the causes of the low fruit set in Aristolochia paucinervis, a Mediterranean species with a specialized pollination system in two populations in SW Spain. Fruit initiation was markedly low, and between 28.

Explosive seed dispersal in two perennial Mediterranean Euphorbia species (Euphorbiaceae).

The distance of explosive dispersal, its pattern in time, and the relative importance of autochory have been studied in two diplochorous species: Euphorbia boetica and E. nicaeensis. The seeds of E.

Dichogamy and sexual dimorphism in floral traits in the andromonoecious Euphorbia boetica.

Background And Aims: Euphorbia boetica (Euphorbiaceae) is a functional andromonoecious species that shows both intra- and interfloral dichogamy, hermaphrodite cyathia being protogynous. Sexual dimorphism of the cyathia of E. boetica is examined according to their gender and arrangement on the inflorescence.

Sex ratio and reproductive effort in the dioecious Juniperus communis subsp. alpina (Suter) Celak. (Cupressaceae) along an altitudinal gradient.

The hypothesis that reproductive cost differs between sexes was tested in Juniperus communis subsp. alpina along an altitudinal gradient. Sex ratio (male : female) increased significantly with elevation, and above 2,600 m it was significantly male-biased.