Abstract:
Pollen plays a key role in plant reproductive biology. Despite the long history of research on pollen and pollination, recent advances in pollen-tracking methods and statistical approaches to linking plant phenotype, pollination performance, and reproductive fitness yield a steady flow of exciting new insights. In this introduction to the Special Issue \"Pollen as the Link Between Phenotype and Fitness,\" we start by describing a general conceptual model linking functional classes of floral phenotypic traits to pollination-related performance metrics and reproductive fitness. We use this model as a framework for synthesizing the relevant literature, highlighting the studies included in the Special Issue, and identifying gaps in our understanding and opportunities for further development of the field. The papers that follow in this Special Issue provide new insights into the relationships between pollen production, presentation, flower morphology, and pollination performance (e.g., pollen deposition onto stigmas), the role of pollinators in pollen transfer, and the consequences of heterospecific pollen deposition. Several of the studies demonstrate exciting experimental and analytical approaches that should pave the way for continued work addressing the intriguing role of pollen in linking plant phenotypes to reproductive fitness.
摘要:
花粉在植物生殖生物学中起着关键作用。尽管花粉和授粉的研究历史悠久,花粉跟踪方法和联系植物表型的统计方法的最新进展,授粉性能,生殖健康产生了源源不断的令人兴奋的新见解。在特刊“花粉作为表型和健康之间的联系”的导言中,“我们首先描述了一个通用的概念模型,该模型将花卉表型性状的功能类别与授粉相关的性能指标和生殖适应性联系起来。我们使用这个模型作为综合相关文献的框架,突出特刊中的研究,并确定我们在理解方面的差距和进一步发展该领域的机会。本期特刊中的论文为花粉生产之间的关系提供了新的见解,介绍,花的形态,和授粉性能(例如,花粉沉积到柱头上),传粉者在花粉转移中的作用,以及异源花粉沉积的后果。其中一些研究证明了令人兴奋的实验和分析方法,为解决花粉在将植物表型与生殖适应性联系起来方面的有趣作用的持续工作铺平道路。