Abstract

Host Glover Lab Group

Abstract Successful pollination is a prerequisite for the reproduction of the ~325,000 flowering plant species. Many flowers have evolved a suite of floral traits that enable specialized associations between the flower and a particular pollinator (e.g., bees, hummingbird, hawkmoth), recognized as the pollinator syndrome. These traits include flower color, scent, shape, orientation, and nectar rewards. Because evolutionary transitions from one pollinator syndrome to another (e.g., from bee- to hummingbird- pollination) require coordinated changes of multiple floral traits, with each trait controlled by multiple genes, one would predict that pollinator syndrome switches are difficult and should happen infrequently. Yet these switches occur rapidly in nature and have been extensively documented. As such, the evolution of pollinator syndromes is one of the most intriguing examples of polygenic adaptation in nature. In this talk, I will discuss some of the projects that my lab has been pursuing to understand the mechanisms underlying pollinator syndrome switches.

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