Adaptive pattern of nectar volume within inflorescences: bumblebee foraging behavior and pollinator-mediated natural selection.[Pubmed: 27687244]

Larger floral displays increase pollinator visitation as well as among-flower self-pollination (geitonogamy) in self-compatible species. Dichogamy (temporal separation of gender expression) can limit geitonogamy and increase outcrossing but this depends on pollinator behavior within inflorescences. Declining nectar volume from lower to upper flowers is a hypothesized adaptation to increase outcrossing and pollen export by encouraging the upward movment of pollinators from female to male flowers and by reducing the number of flowers probed per inflorescence, but supporting evidence has been equivocal. We tested this hypothesis in Aconitum gymnandrum by studying floral display and rewards, pollinator visitation, and pollinator-mediated selection on floral traits. We found that larger inflorescences of A. gymnandrum attracted more pollinators, but did not increase the number of flowers probed per visit. Nectar production declined with increasing flower height on average, but the opposite pattern was also common. Bumblebees responded strongly to the nectar pattern, moving from higher to lower nectar concentration. Finally, there was significant pollinator-mediated direct selection for this pattern of declining nectar volume after correcting for correlations with flower size, number, and mean nectar volume. Together, the results strongly suggest that declining nectar production in higher flowers is an adaptation to enhance outcrossing in A. gymnandrum.

A new isocoumarin from the aerial parts of Aconitum gymnandrum.[Pubmed: 26916990]

A new isocoumarin, along with 10 known compounds, was isolated from the aerial parts of Aconitum gymnandrum. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods including extensive 1D and 2D NMR techniques. Among the known compounds, compound 11 was obtained as a natural product for the first time, which was previously reported as a synthetic product. In addition, compounds 1-5, 7 and 9 were tested for their cytotoxicity against four human cancer cell lines. The results showed that compounds 3, 4 and 7 displayed cytotoxicity against lung cancer A549 and gastric cancer MGC80, respectively, whereas 5 and 9 showed selective cytotoxicity against hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2.

Ultrasound-assisted extraction of total flavonoids from Aconitum gymnandrum.[Pubmed: 24914295]

Aconitum gymnandrum is a Chinese traditional herb used as carminative and analgesic. In this study, A. gymnandrum was used as an experimental matrix.

The effect of flower position on variation and covariation in floral traits in a wild hermaphrodite plant.[Pubmed: 20482889]

Floral traits within plants can vary with flower position or flowering time. Within an inflorescence, sexual allocation of early produced basal flowers is often female-biased while later produced distal flowers are male-biased. Such temporal adjustment of floral resource has been considered one of the potential advantages of modularity (regarding a flower as a module) in hermaphrodites. However, flowers are under constraints of independent evolution of a given trait. To understand flower diversification within inflorescences, here we examine variation and covariation in floral traits within racemes at the individual and the maternal family level respectively in an alpine herb Aconitum gymnandrum (Ranunculaceae).

Insect and wind pollination of an alpine biennial Aconitum gymnandrum (Ranunculaceae).[Pubmed: 19796356]

Wind pollination can provide reproductive insurance for animal-pollinated dioecious plants in the absence of available pollinators, but combinations of insect and wind pollination (ambophily) have rarely been studied in hermaphrodite herbs. We examined the stable occurrence of insect pollination and wind pollination over 4 years in a population of a biennial Aconitum species (A. gymnandrum) with actinomorphic and degenerate sepals. The total frequency of visits of two bumblebee species showed no distinct fluctuations in the studied population among the 4 years. However, seed production of netted flowers after emasculation indicated wind pollination had occurred. The seed number of bagged flowers with one visit by bumblebees was significantly less than that of netted flowers after one visit, or in control flowers. Both seed number and fruit set of netted flowers were significantly lower than in control flowers. These results suggest that wind pollination provides supplementary pollen to unvisited and/or once-visited flowers, but accounts for only a small amount of seed production compared to bumblebee pollination in natural conditions. Such a combination of insect and wind pollination might play an important role in maintaining sexual reproduction of this biennial herb, allowing it to persist in arid habitats on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, especially during Quaternary glacial periods when pollinator populations oscillated extensively.

History and evolution of alpine plants endemic to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: Aconitum gymnandrum (Ranunculaceae).[Pubmed: 19175501]

How Quaternary climatic oscillations affected range distributions and intraspecific divergence of alpine plants on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) remains largely unknown. Here, we report a survey of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) and nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) DNA variation aimed at exploring the phylogeographical history of the QTP alpine endemic Aconitum gymnandrum. We sequenced three cpDNA fragments (rpl20-rps12 intergenic spacer, the trnV intron and psbA-trnH spacer) and also the nuclear (ITS) region in 245 individuals from 23 populations sampled throughout the species' range. Two distinct lineages, with eastern and western geographical distributions respectively, were identified from a phylogenetic analysis of ITS sequence variation. Based on a fast substitution rate, these were estimated to have diverged from each other in the early Pleistocene approximately 1.45 Ma. The analysis of cpDNA variation identified nine chlorotypes that clustered into two major clades that were broadly congruent in geographical distribution with the two ITS lineages. The east-west split of cpDNA divergence was supported by an amova which partitioned approximately half of the total variance between these two groups of populations. Analysis of the spatial distribution of chlorotypes showed that each clade was subdivided into two groups of populations such that a total of four population groups existed in the species. It is suggested that these different groups derive from four independent glacial refugia that existed during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), and that three of these refugia were located at high altitude on the QTP platform itself at that time. Coalescent simulation of chlorotype genealogies supported both an early Pleistocene origin of the two main cpDNA clades and also the 'four-refugia' hypothesis during the LGM. Two previous phylogeographical studies of QTP alpine plants indicated that such plants retreated to refugia at the eastern/south-eastern plateau edge during the LGM and/or previous glacial maxima. However, the results for A. gymnandrum suggest that at least some of these cold-tolerant species may have also survived centrally on the QTP platform throughout the Quaternary.

Size-dependent sex allocation in Aconitum gymnandrum (Ranunculaceae): physiological basis and effects of maternal family and environment.[Pubmed: 18950426]

Theory predicts size-dependent sex allocation (SDS): flowers on plants with a high-resource status should have larger investment in females than plants with a low-resource status. Through a pot experiment with Aconitum gymnandrum (Ranunculaceae) in the field, we examined the relationship between sex allocation of individual flowers and plant size for different maternal families under different environmental conditions. We also determined the physiological base of variations in plant size. Our results support the prediction of SDS, and show that female-biased allocation with plant size is consistent under different environmental conditions. Negative correlations within families showed a plastic response of sex allocation to plant size. Negative genetic correlations between sex allocation and plant size at the family level indicate a genetic cause of the SDS pattern, although genetic correlation was influenced by environmental factors. Hence, the size-dependency of sex allocation in this species had both plastic and genetic causes. Furthermore, genotypes that grew large also had higher assimilation ability, thus showing a physiological basis for SDS.