Abstract
The food deceptive orchid, Dactylorhiza romana (Sebastiani) Soó exhibits a colour polymorphism with yellow, red, and intermediate orange morphs. In this study we tested if floral odour differed among the three distinct colour morphs. We identified 23 odour compounds in D. romana, and all of them occurred in the three colour morphs. Monoterpenes dominated the floral scent. On the basis of Euclidean distances of relative amounts of compounds, yellow morphs were closer to each other than to orange or red morphs. Differentiation of the morphs was mainly due to linalool and benzaldehyde. Linalool occurred in low relative amounts in the yellow morphs, but in high amounts in some of the red individuals, whereas benzaldehyde occurred in higher relative amounts in yellow morphs. Linalool and benzaldehyde are known to be important signal-substances in plant-insect communication, however, it remains to be shown whether insects can discriminate between flower morphs on the basis of the here shown odour differences.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Ackerman J. D. (1986). Mechanisms and evolution of food-deceptive pollination systems in orchids. Lindleyana 1: 108–113
Ackerman J. D., Méléndez-Ackerman E. J. and Salguero-Faria J. (1997). Variation in pollinator abundance and selection on fragrance phenotypes in an epiphytic orchid. Amer. J. Bot. 84: 1383–1390
Ashman T. L., Bradburn M., Cole D. H., Blaney B. H. and Raguso R. A. (2005). The scent of a male: The role of floral volatiles in pollination of a gender dimorphic plant. Ecology 86: 2099–2105
Borg-Karlson A. K., Tengö J., Valterova I., Unelius C. R., Taghizadeh T., Tolasch T. and Francke W. (2003). (S)-(+)-linalool, a mate attractant pheromone component in the bee Colletes cunicularius. J. Chem. Ecol. 29: 1–14
Borg-Karlson A. K., Valterova I. and Nilsson L. A. (1994). Volatile compounds from flowers of six species in the family Apiaceae: bouquets for different pollinators?. Phytochemistry 35: 111–119
Büsser D. (2004) Floral signals and pollination syndromes in three morphs of Mimulus aurantiacus. Geobotanical Institute. Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich.
Cozzolino S., Schiestl F. P., Müller A., De Castro O., Nardella A. M. and Widmer A. (2005). Evidence for pollinator sharing in Mediterranean nectar-mimic orchids: absence of premating barriers?. Proc. Roy. Soc. London, B 272: 1271–1278
Delforge P. (2001). Guide des Orchidées d'Europe, d'Afrique du Nord et du Proche-Orient. Delachaux et Niestlé, Lausanne
Dixon R. A. and Paiva N. L. (1995). Stress-induced phenylpropanoid metabolism. Pl. Cell 7: 1085–1097
Dötterl S. L., Wolfe M. and Jürgens A. (2005). Qualitative and quantitative analyses of flower scent in Silene latifolia. Phytochemistry 66: 203–213
Galen C. (1985). Regulation of seed-set in Polemonium viscosum: Floral scents, pollination and resources. Ecology 66: 792–797
Galen C. and Kevan P. G. (1980). Scent and color, floral polymorphisms and pollination biology in Polemonium viscosum Nutt. Amer. Midl. Naturalist 104: 281–289
Galen C., Zimmer K. A. and Newport M. E. (1987). Pollination in floral scent morphs of Polemonium viscosum: a mechanism for disruptive selection on flower size. Evolution 41: 599–606
Gaskett A., Conti E. and Schiestl F. (2005). Floral odor variation in two heterostylous species of Primula. J. Chem. Ecol. 31: 1223–1228
Gigord L. D. B., Macnair M. R. and Smithson A. (2001). Negative frequency-dependent selection maintains a dramatic flower color polymorphism in the rewardless orchid Dactylorhiza sambucina (L.) Soò. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 98: 6253–6255
Gómez J. M. (2000). Phenotypic selection and response to selection in Lobularia maritima: importance of direct and correlational components of natural selection. J. Evol. Biol. 13: 689–699
Groth I., Bergström G. and Pellmyr O. (1987). Floral fragrances in Cimicifuga: Chemical polymorphism and incipient speciation in Cimicifuga simplex. Biochem. Syst. Ecol. 15: 441–444
Heinrich B. (1975). Bee flowers: a hypothesis on flower variety and blooming times. Evolution 29: 325–334
Henning J. A., Peng Y. S., Montague M. A. and Teuber L. R. (1992). Honey bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) behavioral response to primary alfalfa (Rosales, Fabaceae) floral volatiles. J. Econ. Entomol. 85: 233–239
Huber F. K., Kaiser R., Sauter W. and Schiestl F. P. (2005). Floral scent emission and pollinator attraction in two species of Gymnadenia (Orchidaceae). Oecologia 142: 564–575
Irwin R. E. and Strauss S. Y. (2005). Flower color microevolution in wild radish: Evolutionary response to pollinator-mediated selection. Amer. Naturalist 165: 225–237
Jersakova J., Kindlmann P. and Renner S. S. (2006). Is the colour dimorphism in Dactylorhiza sambucina maintained by differential seed viability instead of frequency-dependent selection?. Folia Geobot. 41: 61–76
Jones K. N. (1996). Pollinator behavior and postpollination reproductive success in alternative floral phenotypes of Clarkia gracilis (Onagraceae). Int. J. Pl. Sci. 157: 733–738
Kay A. O. N. (1978). The role of preferential and assortative pollination in the maintenance of flower colour polymorphisms. In: Richards, A. J. (eds) Pollination of flowers by insects. Linnean Society Symposium Series No. 6, pp 175–190. Academic Press, London
Knudsen J. T. (2002). Variation in floral scent composition within and between populations of Geonoma macrostachys (Aracaceae) in the western Amazon. Amer. J. Bot. 89: 1772–1778
Knudsen J. T., Erikkson R., Gershenzon J. and Stahl B. (2006). Diversity and distribution of floral scent. Bot. Rev. 72: 1–120
Laloi D. and Pham-Delegue M. (2004). Bumble bees show asymmetrical discrimination between two odors in a classical conditioning procedure. J. Insect Behav. 17: 385–396
Levin D. A. and Brack E. T. (1995). Natural selection against white petals in Phlox. Evolution 49: 1017–1022
Levin R. A., Raguso R. A. and McDade L. A. (2001). Fragrance chemistry and pollinator affinities in Nyctaginaceae. Phytochemistry 58: 429–440
Mant J., Brandli C., Vereecken N. J., Schulz C. M., Francke W. and Schiestl F. P. (2005). Cuticular hydrocarbons as sex pheromone of the bee Colletes cunicularius and the key to its mimicry by the sexually deceptive orchid, Ophrys exaltata. J. Chem. Ecol. 31: 1765–1787
McGarvey D. J. and Croteau R. (1995). Terpenoid metabolism. Pl. Cell 7: 1015–1026
Moya S. and Ackerman J. D. (1993). Variation in the floral fragrance of Epidendrum ciliare (Orchidaceae). Nord. J. Bot. 13: 41–47
Nilsson L. A. (1980). The pollination ecology of Dactylorhiza sambucina (Orchidaceae). Bot. Not. 133: 367–385
Nilsson L. A. (1983). Anthecology of Orchis mascula (Orchidaceae). Nord. J. Bot. 3: 157–179
Nilsson L. A. (1984). Anthecology of Orchis morio (Orchidaceae) at its out past in the worth. Nova Acta Regiae Societatis Scientiarum Upsaliensis V: C 3: 167–179
Nilsson L. A. (1992). Orchid pollination biology. Trends Ecol. Evol. 7: 255–259
Olesen J. M. and Knudsen J. T. (1994). Scent profiles of flower color morphs of Corydalis cava (Fumariaceae) in relation to foraging behavior of bumblebee queens (Bombus terrestris). Biochem. Syst. Ecol. 22: 231–237
Pellegrino G., Caimi D., Noce M. E. and Musacchio A. (2005). Effects of local density and flower colour polymorphism on pollination and reproduction in the rewardless orchid Dactylorhiza sambucina (L.) Soò. Pl. Syst. Evol. 251: 119–129
Raguso R. A. and Pichersky E. (1999). A day in the life of a linalool molecule: chemical communication in a plant-pollinator system. Part. 1: Linalool biosynthesis in flowering plants. Pl. Spec. Biol. 14: 95–120
Schemske D. W. and Bierzychudek P. (2001). Perspective: evolution of flower color in the desert annual Linanthus parryae: wright revisited. Evolution 55: 1269–1282
Schiestl F. P. and Marion-Poll F. (2002). Detection of physiologically active flower volatiles using gas chromatography coupled with electroantennography. In: Jackson, J. F. and Linskens, H. F. (eds) Analyses of taste and aroma, pp 173–198. Springer, Berlin
Schomburg G. (1990). Gas chromatography. A practical course. VCH, Weinheim
Smithson A. and Macnair M. R. (1997). Negative frequency-dependent selection by pollinators on artificial flowers without rewards. Evolution 51: 715–723
Stanton M. L. (1987). Reproductive biology of petal color variants in wild populations of Raphanus sativus: I. pollinator response to color morphs. Amer. J. Bot. 74: 178–187
Strauss S. Y., Irwin R. E. and Lambrix V. M. (2004). Optimal defence theory and flower petal colour predict variation in the secondary chemistry of wild radish. J. Ecol. 92: 132–141
Waser N. M. and Price M. V. (1983). Pollinator behavior and natural selection for flower color in Delphinium nelsonii. Nature 302: 422–424
Wolfe L. M. (1993). Reproductive consequences of a flower color polymorphism in Hydrophyllum appendiculatum. Amer. Midl. Naturalist 129: 405–408
Wolfe L. M. and Sellers S. E. (1997). Polymorphic floral traits in Linaria canadensis (Scrophulariaceae). Amer. Midl. Naturalist 138: 134–139
Zuker A., Tzfira T., Ben-Meir H., Ovadis M., Shklarman E., Itzhaki H., Forkmann G., Martens S., Neta-sharir I., Weiss D. and Vainstein A. (2002). Modification of flower color and fragrance by antisense suppression of the flavanone 3-hydroxylase gene. Molec. Breed. 9: 33–41
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Salzmann, C., Schiestl, F. Odour and colour polymorphism in the food-deceptive orchid Dactylorhiza romana . Plant Syst. Evol. 267, 37–45 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-007-0560-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-007-0560-z