Molecular analysis of orchid pollinaria and pollinaria-remains found on insects.
Direct observations of pollinator visits to orchids are often difficult and time consuming, especially in orchids with a deceptive pollination system where seed set is typically pollinator-limited. This lack of direct observations greatly inhibits our understanding of orchid-pollinator relationships and especially the degree of pollinator-specificity. Here we describe a molecular approach to the study of orchid-pollinator relationships based on the analysis of DNA recovered from pollinaria found on insects. The insects were collected from nectar-rich plants flowering near natural orchid populations, or taken from museum collections. Sequence analysis of the nuclear ribosomal ITS region allowed the identification of the orchid species or species-group from which the pollinaria originated. Four out of eight orchid-pollinator relationships established with this approach have not been reported previously, which highlights the value of molecular tools for the study of orchid pollination biology.
Widmer
A
A
Geobotanisches Institut, ETH Zürich, Zollikerstr. 107, CH-8008 Zürich, Switzerland. alex.widmer@geobot.umnw.ethz.ch
Cozzolino
S
S
Pellegrino
G
G
Soliva
M
M
Dafni
A
A
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D005828:Genetics, Population; D007313:Insecta / Q000502:physiology; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008967:Molecular Biology; D011058:Pollen / Q000235:genetics; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013045:Species Specificity
D017931:DNA Primers; D018744:DNA, Plant