Phloem-Feeding Herbivores Affect Floral Development and Reproduction in the Etruscan Honeysuckle (Lonicera etrusca Santi)
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Department of Ecology and Animal Biology, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, University of Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
2
Department of Plant Biology and Soil Sciences, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, University of Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editors: Cristina Ferrandiz and Concha (Concepción) Gómez-Mena
Plants 2021, 10(4), 815; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10040815
Received: 27 February 2021
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Revised: 18 March 2021
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Accepted: 14 April 2021
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Published: 20 April 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Reproductive Development)
Floral development depends on multifactor processes related to genetic, physiological, and ecological pathways. Plants respond to herbivores by activating mechanisms aimed at tolerating, compensating, or avoiding loss of biomass and nutrients, and thereby survive in a complex landscape of interactions. Thus, plants need to overcome trade-offs between development, growth, and reproduction vs. the initiation of anti-herbivore defences. This study aims to assess the frequency of phloem-feeding herbivores in wild populations of the Etruscan honeysuckle (Lonicera etrusca Santi) and study their effects on floral development and reproduction. The incidence of herbivory by the honeysuckle aphid (Hyadaphis passerinii del Guercio) was assessed in three wild populations of the Iberian Peninsula. The effect of herbivory on floral morphology, micromorphology of stigmas and pollen, floral rewards, pollination, and fruit and seed set were studied. The herbivory by aphids reduces the size of flowers and pollen. Additionally, it stops nectar synthesis and causes malformation in pollen and microstructures of stigmas, affecting pollination. As a consequence, fruit set and seed weight are reduced. This work provides evidence of the changes induced by phloem-feeding herbivores in floral development and functioning that affect the ecological processes necessary to maintain the reproductive success of plants.
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Keywords:
aphid; flowering; Hyadaphis passerinii; nectar; pollination; reproductive success; stigma
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MDPI and ACS Style
Rojas-Nossa, S.V.; Sánchez, J.M.; Navarro, L. Phloem-Feeding Herbivores Affect Floral Development and Reproduction in the Etruscan Honeysuckle (Lonicera etrusca Santi). Plants 2021, 10, 815. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10040815
AMA Style
Rojas-Nossa SV, Sánchez JM, Navarro L. Phloem-Feeding Herbivores Affect Floral Development and Reproduction in the Etruscan Honeysuckle (Lonicera etrusca Santi). Plants. 2021; 10(4):815. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10040815
Chicago/Turabian StyleRojas-Nossa, Sandra V., José M. Sánchez, and Luis Navarro. 2021. "Phloem-Feeding Herbivores Affect Floral Development and Reproduction in the Etruscan Honeysuckle (Lonicera etrusca Santi)" Plants 10, no. 4: 815. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10040815
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