| Title |
Post-pollination emission of a repellent compound in a sexually deceptive orchid: a new mechanism for maximising reproductive success?
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Oecologia, February 2001
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s004420000552 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Florian P. Schiestl, Manfred Ayasse |
| Abstract |
The flowers of the sexually deceptive orchid Ophrys sphegodes are pollinated by pseudocopulating males of the solitary bee Andrena nigroaenea. We investigated the changes in odor emission and reduced attractiveness that occur after pollination in these plants. We analyzed floral odor of unpollinated and pollinated flowers by gas chromatography and compared relative and absolute amounts of electrophysiologically active compounds. Headspace odor samples of O. sphegodes flowers showed a significant increase in absolute and relative amounts of all-trans-farnesyl hexanoate after pollination. Flower extracts also indicated an increase of farnesyl hexanoate after pollination. The total amount of the other physiologically active odor compounds decreased slightly. Farnesyl hexanoate is a major constituent of the Dufour's gland secretion in females of the pollinator bees, A. nigroaenea, where it functions in the lining of the brood cells. Furthermore, this compound lowers the number of copulation attempts in males. In dual-choice tests, we showed that flowers artificially scented with an amount of farnesyl hexanoate equal to the increased amount after pollination were significantly less attractive than flowers treated with solvent only. We propose that the increased production of farnesyl hexanoate in pollinated flowers is a signal to guide pollinators to unpollinated flowers of the inflorescence, which represents a new mechanism in this pollination system. |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 146 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 6 | 4% |
| Switzerland | 2 | 1% |
| France | 1 | <1% |
| Italy | 1 | <1% |
| Austria | 1 | <1% |
| Germany | 1 | <1% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | <1% |
| Brazil | 1 | <1% |
| Poland | 1 | <1% |
| Other | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 130 | 89% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Researcher | 31 | 21% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 30 | 21% |
| Student > Master | 16 | 11% |
| Professor | 14 | 10% |
| Other | 8 | 5% |
| Other | 23 | 16% |
| Unknown | 24 | 16% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 87 | 60% |
| Environmental Science | 15 | 10% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 4 | 3% |
| Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science | 2 | 1% |
| Earth and Planetary Sciences | 2 | 1% |
| Other | 7 | 5% |
| Unknown | 29 | 20% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 3. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 27 November 2022.
All research outputs
#7,610,011
of 23,202,641 outputs
Outputs from Oecologia
#1,700
of 4,255 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#26,552
of 114,399 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Oecologia
#9
of 27 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,202,641 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 44th percentile – i.e., 44% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 4,255 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 7.1. This one is in the 34th percentile – i.e., 34% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 114,399 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 17th percentile – i.e., 17% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 27 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 18th percentile – i.e., 18% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.