Convergent evolutionary patterns of heterostyly across angiosperms support the pollination-precision hypothesis
- Author(s)
- Violeta Simón-Porcar, Marcial Escudero, Rocío Santos-Gally, Hervé Sauquet, Jürg Schönenberger, Steven D. Johnson, Juan Arroyo
- Abstract
Since the insights by Charles Darwin, heterostyly, a floral polymorphism with morphs bearing stigmas and anthers at reciprocal heights, has become a model system for the study of natural selection. Based on his archetypal heterostylous flower, including regular symmetry, few stamens and a tube, Darwin hypothesised that heterostyly evolved to promote outcrossing through efficient pollen transfer between morphs involving different areas of a pollinator’s body, thus proposing his seminal pollination-precision hypothesis. Here we update the number of heterostylous and other style-length polymorphic taxa to 247 genera belonging to 34 families, notably expanding known cases by 20%. Using phylogenetic and comparative analyses across the angiosperms, we show numerous independent origins of style-length polymorphism associated with actinomorphic, tubular flowers with a low number of sex organs, stamens fused to the corolla, and pollination by long-tongued insects. These associations provide support for the Darwinian pollination-precision hypothesis as a basis for convergent evolution of heterostyly across angiosperms.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research
- External organisation(s)
- Universidad de Sevilla, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, National Herbarium of New South Wales, University of KwaZulu-Natal
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Volume
- 15
- No. of pages
- 12
- ISSN
- 2041-1723
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45118-0
- Publication date
- 02-2024
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 106008 Botany, 106012 Evolutionary research, 106042 Systematic botany
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physics and Astronomy(all), Chemistry(all), Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
- Portal url
- https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/convergent-evolutionary-patterns-of-heterostyly-across-angiosperms-support-the-pollinationprecision-hypothesis(6539b04c-c7c1-4365-b7b6-2487cea671ac).html