Convergent evolution of a blood-red nectar pigment in vertebrate-pollinated flowers.

Nearly 90% of flowering plants depend on animals for reproduction. One of the main rewards plants offer to pollinators for visitation is nectar. (Campanulaceae) produces a blood-red nectar that has been proposed to serve as a visual attractant for pollinator visitation.

Van Krevelen diagram visualization of high resolution-mass spectrometry metabolomics data with OpenVanKrevelen.

Introduction: Van Krevelen (VK) diagrams provide a promising but uncommon solution to a number of challenges associated with the visualization of metabolomics data. VK diagrams are created by plotting H:C ratios against O:C ratios of the compounds in a chemical mixture.

Objectives: The aim of this manuscript is to present an open-source software tool and reference map that we have developed to make VK diagrams for visualization of metabolomics data.

Multispectral phloem-mobile probes: properties and applications.

Using Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) seedlings, we identified a range of small fluorescent probes that entered the translocation stream and were unloaded at the root tip. These probes had absorbance/emission maxima ranging from 367/454 to 546/576 nm and represent a versatile toolbox for studying phloem transport. Of the probes that we tested, naturally occurring fluorescent coumarin glucosides (esculin and fraxin) were phloem loaded and transported in oocytes by the sucrose transporter, AtSUC2.