title: The Sexual Advantage of Looking, Smelling, and Tasting Good: The Metabolic Network that Produces Signals for Pollinators.
abstract: A striking feature of the angiosperms that use animals as pollen carriers to sexually reproduce is the great diversity of their flowers with regard to morphology and traits such as color, odor, and nectar. These traits are underpinned by the synthesis of secondary metabolites such as pigments and volatiles, as well as carbohydrates and amino acids, which are used by plants to lure and reward animal pollinators. We review here the knowledge of the metabolic network that supports the biosynthesis of these compounds and the behavioral responses that these molecules elicit in the animal pollinators. Such knowledge provides us with a deeper insight into the ecology and evolution of plant-pollinator interactions, and should help us to better manage these ecologically essential interactions in agricultural ecosystems.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Borghi
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Am Muehlenberg 1, 14476, Potsdam-Golm, Germany.
authors.forename: Alisdair R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Fernie
authors.affiliation: Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Zürich, Zollikerstrasse 107, 8008 Zürich.
authors.forename: Florian P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Schiestl
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands; Present address: Plant Hormone Biology group, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: h.j.bouwmeester@uva.nl.
authors.forename: Harro J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Bouwmeester
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D017753:Ecosystem; D035264:Flowers / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology*; D010858:Pigmentation / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D054817:Pollination / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: flower metabolism; nectar; pigments; pollination; scent