Odor of achlorophyllous plants’ seeds drives seed‐dispersing ants
Abstract Seed dispersal by ants is an important means of migration for plants. Many myrmecochorous plants have specialized appendages in their seeds called elaiosome, which provides nutritional rewards for ants, and enable effective seed dispersal. However, some nonmyrmecochorous seeds without elaio...
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doaj-dfd5b665208d48d6be16f39e5018205e2021-07-21T12:11:07ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582021-07-0111149308931710.1002/ece3.7612Odor of achlorophyllous plants’ seeds drives seed‐dispersing antsMikihisa Yamada0Masaru K. Hojo1Akio Imamura2Hokkaido University of Education Asahikawa JapanDepartment of Bioscience School of Science and Technology Kwansei Gakuin University Sanda JapanHokkaido University of Education Asahikawa JapanAbstract Seed dispersal by ants is an important means of migration for plants. Many myrmecochorous plants have specialized appendages in their seeds called elaiosome, which provides nutritional rewards for ants, and enable effective seed dispersal. However, some nonmyrmecochorous seeds without elaiosomes are also dispersed by ant species, suggesting the additional mechanisms other than elaiosomes for seed dispersal by ants. The seeds of the achlorophyllous and myco‐heterotrophic herbaceous plant Monotropastrum humile are very small without elaiosomes; we investigated whether odor of the seeds could mediate seed dispersal by ants. We performed a bioassay using seeds of M. humile and the ant Nylanderia flavipes to demonstrate ant‐mediated seed dispersal. We also analyzed the volatile odors emitted from M. humile seeds and conducted bioassays using dummy seeds coated with seed volatiles. Although elaiosomes were absent from the M. humile seeds, the ants carried the seeds to their nests. They also carried the dummy seeds coated with the seed volatile mixture to the nest and left some dummy seeds inside the nest and discarded the rest of the dummy seeds outside the nest with a bias toward specific locations, which might be conducive to germination. We concluded that, in M. humile seeds, volatile odor mixtures were sufficient to induce seed‐carrying behavior by the ants even without elaiosomes.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7612directed seed dispersalelaiosomemyco‐heterotrophic plantmyrmecochoryseed volatiles |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Mikihisa Yamada Masaru K. Hojo Akio Imamura |
spellingShingle |
Mikihisa Yamada Masaru K. Hojo Akio Imamura Odor of achlorophyllous plants’ seeds drives seed‐dispersing ants Ecology and Evolution directed seed dispersal elaiosome myco‐heterotrophic plant myrmecochory seed volatiles |
author_facet |
Mikihisa Yamada Masaru K. Hojo Akio Imamura |
author_sort |
Mikihisa Yamada |
title |
Odor of achlorophyllous plants’ seeds drives seed‐dispersing ants |
title_short |
Odor of achlorophyllous plants’ seeds drives seed‐dispersing ants |
title_full |
Odor of achlorophyllous plants’ seeds drives seed‐dispersing ants |
title_fullStr |
Odor of achlorophyllous plants’ seeds drives seed‐dispersing ants |
title_full_unstemmed |
Odor of achlorophyllous plants’ seeds drives seed‐dispersing ants |
title_sort |
odor of achlorophyllous plants’ seeds drives seed‐dispersing ants |
publisher |
Wiley |
series |
Ecology and Evolution |
issn |
2045-7758 |
publishDate |
2021-07-01 |
description |
Abstract Seed dispersal by ants is an important means of migration for plants. Many myrmecochorous plants have specialized appendages in their seeds called elaiosome, which provides nutritional rewards for ants, and enable effective seed dispersal. However, some nonmyrmecochorous seeds without elaiosomes are also dispersed by ant species, suggesting the additional mechanisms other than elaiosomes for seed dispersal by ants. The seeds of the achlorophyllous and myco‐heterotrophic herbaceous plant Monotropastrum humile are very small without elaiosomes; we investigated whether odor of the seeds could mediate seed dispersal by ants. We performed a bioassay using seeds of M. humile and the ant Nylanderia flavipes to demonstrate ant‐mediated seed dispersal. We also analyzed the volatile odors emitted from M. humile seeds and conducted bioassays using dummy seeds coated with seed volatiles. Although elaiosomes were absent from the M. humile seeds, the ants carried the seeds to their nests. They also carried the dummy seeds coated with the seed volatile mixture to the nest and left some dummy seeds inside the nest and discarded the rest of the dummy seeds outside the nest with a bias toward specific locations, which might be conducive to germination. We concluded that, in M. humile seeds, volatile odor mixtures were sufficient to induce seed‐carrying behavior by the ants even without elaiosomes. |
topic |
directed seed dispersal elaiosome myco‐heterotrophic plant myrmecochory seed volatiles |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7612 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT mikihisayamada odorofachlorophyllousplantsseedsdrivesseeddispersingants AT masarukhojo odorofachlorophyllousplantsseedsdrivesseeddispersingants AT akioimamura odorofachlorophyllousplantsseedsdrivesseeddispersingants |
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