Botanic Garden, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
Department of Plant Biochemistry and Toxicology, Institute of Biology, Faculty of Biology and Chemistry, University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland.
Sci Rep. 2019 Oct 23;9(1):15209. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-51170-4.
Nectar is considered to be a primary food reward for most pollinators. It mostly contains sugars, but also has amino acids. The significance of the concentration and composition of amino acids in nectar is often less understood than that of its volume, sugar concentration and composition. However, there is a trend towards a broader approach in ecological research, which helps to understand nectar properties in an ecological context. The genus Fritillaria, exhibiting great diversity in flower morphology, nectar composition, and dominant pollinators, allows for the possibility to study some of the above. We studied the concentration and composition of amino acids in the nectar of 38 Fritillaria species attracting different groups of pollen vectors (bees, flies, passerines, and hummingbirds). The flowers of fritillaries produced nectar with a varying composition and concentration of amino acids. These differences were mostly associated with the pollinator type. The nectar of passerine bird-pollinated species was rich in amino acids, whereas humming bird-pollinated produced low amino acid nectar. Contrary to previous reports nectar of the insect-pollinated species did not contain a higher amount of proline. Two non-protein amino acids, sarcosine and norvaline, were detected in the floral nectar for the first time.
花蜜被认为是大多数传粉媒介的主要食物奖励。它主要含有糖，但也含有氨基酸。与体积、糖浓度和组成相比，花蜜中氨基酸的浓度和组成的重要性往往不太被理解。然而，生态研究中有一种趋势是采用更广泛的方法，这有助于在生态背景下理解花蜜的特性。贝母属在花形态、花蜜组成和主要传粉媒介方面表现出很大的多样性，这使得研究其中的一些特性成为可能。我们研究了吸引不同传粉媒介群体（蜜蜂、苍蝇、雀形目鸟类和蜂鸟）的 38 种贝母属植物花蜜中氨基酸的浓度和组成。贝母属植物的花产生的花蜜中氨基酸的组成和浓度各不相同。这些差异主要与传粉者类型有关。雀形目鸟类传粉的物种的花蜜富含氨基酸，而蜂鸟传粉的则产生低氨基酸花蜜。与之前的报告相反，昆虫传粉的物种的花蜜中并没有更高含量的脯氨酸。两种非蛋白氨基酸，肌氨酸和正缬氨酸，首次在花的花蜜中被检测到。
