Abstract
The shrub Trixis praestans (Asteraceae) is widely distributed in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. It has great potential as a melliferous resource, since its abundant flowering occurs in winter (when flower offer is scarce) and spring, and it is intensely visited by honey bees. This study provides information on some aspects of the reproductive biology, which are essential for the species cultivation, conservation and breeding. Flowering phenology, floral biology and floral visitors were observed. The mechanism of fruit set was evaluated through manipulative experiments, embryological analyses and genotypic characterization of offspring using molecular DNA markers. Flower longevity was 3.5 ± 1 days and duration of the capitulum in floral state was 15 ± 6 days; peak flowering occurred in mid-August. Floral visitors belonged to nine species of the orders Hymenoptera, Diptera and Lepidoptera. Apis mellifera was the most abundant species and showed foraging behavior on pollen and nectar. Fruit set was 70% higher in open-pollination and hand cross-pollination (xenogamy) treatments than in hand self-pollination and autonomous self-pollination treatments. The embryological analysis indicated a path of sexual development which originated a reduced embryo sac (female gametophyte). Molecular analysis showed a prevalence of cross-fertilization in fruits derived from open-pollination. Based on the results, we conclude that T. praestans is a sexual species in which xenogamy predominates and that pollinators are necessary for fruit set.
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Acknowledgements
We are thankful to Juan Pablo Torreta for his help with taxonomic determination of insects and to Damián César Castro for his help with the statistical analysis of data. Financial support for this research was provided by the Universidad Nacional del Litoral and the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas.
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Financial support for this research was provided by the Universidad Nacional del Litoral and the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas.
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All authors contributed to the study, conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by CC, MCC, PAT and ELE. CC and MCC contributed equally to the writing of the first draft of the manuscript; the remaining authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Online Resource 1. Origin of the Trixis praestans individuals grown in the experimental field at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, National University of the Littoral, Esperanza, Argentina (31° 27′ S, 60° 56′ W).
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Cuffia, C., Cerino, M.C., Tomas, P.A. et al. Winter flowers for bees: reproductive biology of Trixis praestans (Asteraceae). Plant Syst Evol 308, 27 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-022-01817-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-022-01817-z