Fan Yong-Li, Li Qing-Jun
Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 88# Xuefu Road, Yunnan 650223, China.
China Forest Exploration and Design Institute of Kunming, Kunming 650216, China.
Sci Rep. 2016 Mar 1;6:22340. doi: 10.1038/srep22340.
Innovative floral organs are widely distributed taxonomically in angiosperms, and some of them are conspicuous and curious in morphology. Floral organs have long been supposed to play a crucial role in fertilization by pollinators. However, why innovative organs occur, how they are adapted for pollinators and what sexual roles they play are still puzzling. Here we focused on a wild ginger (Zingiber densissimum, Zingiberaceae) and tested the function of the curious anther crest, an innovative floral structure widely distributed in Zingiberaceae. The anther crest is a specialized anther appendage that extends up from the top of the anther to form a tail-like structure, about 150% as long as the anther. We found this structure promoted both the male and the female functions of plants by manipulating its pollinators and causing pollinators to adopt a position ideal for pollen removal and receipt. This study provides a novel example of structure adaptation in which both the male and the female functions are enhanced by resource allocation on a male organ, expanding the knowledge of the sexual roles of the anther appendage.
创新的花器官在被子植物中广泛分布于分类学上，其中一些在形态上引人注目且奇特。长期以来，花器官被认为在传粉者授粉过程中起着关键作用。然而，创新器官为何出现、它们如何适应传粉者以及它们发挥何种性别角色仍然令人困惑。在这里，我们聚焦于一种野生姜（密花姜，姜科），并测试了奇特的花药嵴的功能，花药嵴是一种广泛分布于姜科的创新花结构。花药嵴是一种特化的花药附属物，从花药顶部向上延伸形成尾状结构，长度约为花药的150%。我们发现这种结构通过操控传粉者并使传粉者采取有利于花粉去除和接受的位置，促进了植物的雄性和雌性功能。这项研究提供了一个结构适应的新例子，即通过在雄性器官上进行资源分配来增强雄性和雌性功能，扩展了对花药附属物性别角色的认识。
