Is there interspecific fruit set in distylous, synchronopatric species of Erythroxylum P. Browne (Erythroxylaceae)?

Abstract Sympatric congeneric species that overlap the flowering period and have morphologically similar flowers tend to be pollinated by the same groups of pollinators, facilitating interspecific pollination and hybridization. If that situation involves distylous taxa, interspecific fruit set will...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: L. L. Barreto, L. D. A. Araujo, T. F. F. de Sá, L. P. Felix, M. F. Fay, C. C. Castro
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Instituto Internacional de Ecologia 2025-04-01
Series:Brazilian Journal of Biology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-69842025000100161&lng=en&tlng=en
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849721955758899200
author L. L. Barreto
L. D. A. Araujo
T. F. F. de Sá
L. P. Felix
M. F. Fay
C. C. Castro
author_facet L. L. Barreto
L. D. A. Araujo
T. F. F. de Sá
L. P. Felix
M. F. Fay
C. C. Castro
author_sort L. L. Barreto
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Sympatric congeneric species that overlap the flowering period and have morphologically similar flowers tend to be pollinated by the same groups of pollinators, facilitating interspecific pollination and hybridization. If that situation involves distylous taxa, interspecific fruit set will theoretically rely on the match of sexual organs of the different species, because distylous plants only set fruits after crosses between floral morphs that are reciprocal herkogamous (RH) and are produced in different individuals. In a Caatinga forest in NE Brazil, there are three distylous species of Erythroxylum P. Br (E. citrifolium A.St.-Hil., E. pauferrense Plowman and E. simonis Plowman; Erythroxylaceae) that overlap their flowering period and have a high similarity in floral attributes. Erythroxylum pauferrense is a rare and endemic species of the region. This study aimed to describe the distylous pattern of those three Erythroxylum species (i.e., reciprocal hercogamy, proportion of morphs in the population and breeding system) and to evaluate the reproductive isolation between them. Flowering synchrony, interspecific RH and pollination were the pre-zygotic barriers investigated, and the post-zygotic one was the fruit set after interspecific pollination experiments. The species completely overlapped their flowering periods and were pollinated by the same group of species (Apis mellifera, Tetragona sp., and Trigona spinipes). In a general matter, a low level of both intra and interspecific RH was revealed. Interspecific pollination set fruits only between E. pauferrense and E. simonis. A low level of both intra and interspecific RH was revealed for all species, except for the low-level organs of E. citrifolium. The atypical distyly observed in E. pauferrense and E simonis indicates a collapse in the distylous system and may be related to a relaxation in the interspecific incompatibility mechanism.
format Article
id doaj-art-4f23116805f147bfb1a5e7a159bb8c5b
institution DOAJ
issn 1678-4375
language English
publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher Instituto Internacional de Ecologia
record_format Article
series Brazilian Journal of Biology
spelling doaj-art-4f23116805f147bfb1a5e7a159bb8c5b2025-08-20T03:11:30ZengInstituto Internacional de EcologiaBrazilian Journal of Biology1678-43752025-04-018510.1590/1519-6984.287794Is there interspecific fruit set in distylous, synchronopatric species of Erythroxylum P. Browne (Erythroxylaceae)?L. L. Barretohttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6987-4329L. D. A. Araujohttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9112-6140T. F. F. de Sáhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9347-2231L. P. FelixM. F. Fayhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3491-9093C. C. Castrohttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7862-2155Abstract Sympatric congeneric species that overlap the flowering period and have morphologically similar flowers tend to be pollinated by the same groups of pollinators, facilitating interspecific pollination and hybridization. If that situation involves distylous taxa, interspecific fruit set will theoretically rely on the match of sexual organs of the different species, because distylous plants only set fruits after crosses between floral morphs that are reciprocal herkogamous (RH) and are produced in different individuals. In a Caatinga forest in NE Brazil, there are three distylous species of Erythroxylum P. Br (E. citrifolium A.St.-Hil., E. pauferrense Plowman and E. simonis Plowman; Erythroxylaceae) that overlap their flowering period and have a high similarity in floral attributes. Erythroxylum pauferrense is a rare and endemic species of the region. This study aimed to describe the distylous pattern of those three Erythroxylum species (i.e., reciprocal hercogamy, proportion of morphs in the population and breeding system) and to evaluate the reproductive isolation between them. Flowering synchrony, interspecific RH and pollination were the pre-zygotic barriers investigated, and the post-zygotic one was the fruit set after interspecific pollination experiments. The species completely overlapped their flowering periods and were pollinated by the same group of species (Apis mellifera, Tetragona sp., and Trigona spinipes). In a general matter, a low level of both intra and interspecific RH was revealed. Interspecific pollination set fruits only between E. pauferrense and E. simonis. A low level of both intra and interspecific RH was revealed for all species, except for the low-level organs of E. citrifolium. The atypical distyly observed in E. pauferrense and E simonis indicates a collapse in the distylous system and may be related to a relaxation in the interspecific incompatibility mechanism.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-69842025000100161&lng=en&tlng=enco-floweringdistylypollinationhybridizationpre-zygotic barrierreciprocal herkogamy
spellingShingle L. L. Barreto
L. D. A. Araujo
T. F. F. de Sá
L. P. Felix
M. F. Fay
C. C. Castro
Is there interspecific fruit set in distylous, synchronopatric species of Erythroxylum P. Browne (Erythroxylaceae)?
Brazilian Journal of Biology
co-flowering
distyly
pollination
hybridization
pre-zygotic barrier
reciprocal herkogamy
title Is there interspecific fruit set in distylous, synchronopatric species of Erythroxylum P. Browne (Erythroxylaceae)?
title_full Is there interspecific fruit set in distylous, synchronopatric species of Erythroxylum P. Browne (Erythroxylaceae)?
title_fullStr Is there interspecific fruit set in distylous, synchronopatric species of Erythroxylum P. Browne (Erythroxylaceae)?
title_full_unstemmed Is there interspecific fruit set in distylous, synchronopatric species of Erythroxylum P. Browne (Erythroxylaceae)?
title_short Is there interspecific fruit set in distylous, synchronopatric species of Erythroxylum P. Browne (Erythroxylaceae)?
title_sort is there interspecific fruit set in distylous synchronopatric species of erythroxylum p browne erythroxylaceae
topic co-flowering
distyly
pollination
hybridization
pre-zygotic barrier
reciprocal herkogamy
url http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-69842025000100161&lng=en&tlng=en
work_keys_str_mv AT llbarreto isthereinterspecificfruitsetindistyloussynchronopatricspeciesoferythroxylumpbrowneerythroxylaceae
AT ldaaraujo isthereinterspecificfruitsetindistyloussynchronopatricspeciesoferythroxylumpbrowneerythroxylaceae
AT tffdesa isthereinterspecificfruitsetindistyloussynchronopatricspeciesoferythroxylumpbrowneerythroxylaceae
AT lpfelix isthereinterspecificfruitsetindistyloussynchronopatricspeciesoferythroxylumpbrowneerythroxylaceae
AT mffay isthereinterspecificfruitsetindistyloussynchronopatricspeciesoferythroxylumpbrowneerythroxylaceae
AT cccastro isthereinterspecificfruitsetindistyloussynchronopatricspeciesoferythroxylumpbrowneerythroxylaceae