- Title
- Pollinators, “mustard oil” volatiles, and fruit production in flowers of the dioecious tree Drypetes natalensis (Putranjivaceae)
- Creator
- Johnson, Steven D, Griffiths, Megan E, Peter, Craig I, Lawes, Michael J
- Date
- 2009
- Type
- Article
- Identifier
- vital:6519
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005948
- Description
- The Putranjivaceae is an enigmatic family, notable for being the only lineage outside the Capparales to possess the glucosinolate biochemical pathway, which forms the basis of an induced chemical defense system against herbivores (the “ mustard oil bomb ” ). We investigated the pollination biology and fl oral scent chemistry of Drypetes natalensis (Putranjivaceae), a dioecious subcanopy tree with fl owers borne on the stem (caulifl ory). Flowering male trees were more abundant than female ones and produced about 10-fold more fl owers. Flowers of both sexes produce copious amounts of nectar on disc-like nectaries accessible to short-tongued insects. The main fl ower visitors observed were cetoniid beetles, bees, and vespid wasps. Pollen load analysis indicated that these insects exhibit a high degree of fi delity to D. natalensis fl owers. Insects effectively transfer pollen from male to female plants resulting in about 31% of female fl owers developing fruits with viable seeds. Cetoniid beetles showed signifi cant orientation toward the scent of D. natalensis fl owers in a Y-maze olfactometer. The scents of male and female fl owers are similar in chemical composition and dominated by fatty acid derivatives and isothiocyanates from the glucosinolate pathway. The apparent constitutive emission of isothiocyanates raises interesting new questions about their functional role in flowers.
- Format
- 7 pages, pdf
- Language
- English
- Relation
- Johnson, S.D. and Griffiths, M.E. and Peter, C.I. and Lawes, M.J. (2009) Pollinators, “mustard oil” volatiles, and fruit production in flowers of the dioecious tree Drypetes natalensis (Putranjivaceae). American journal of botany, 96 (11). pp. 2080-2086. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.3732/ajb.0800362
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Peter, Craig (Assoc Prof)
RU Department of Botany
SDG 15. Life On Land
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