{"id":109383,"date":"2016-02-24T09:49:33","date_gmt":"2016-02-24T14:49:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=109383"},"modified":"2016-02-24T11:08:30","modified_gmt":"2016-02-24T16:08:30","slug":"how-monkey-flowers-attract-both-birds-and-bees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2016\/02\/how-monkey-flowers-attract-both-birds-and-bees\/","title":{"rendered":"How Monkey Flowers Attract Both Birds and Bees"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Monkey-Flowers-2b\"<\/a>Just suppose for a moment that you are a bumblebee and below you is a field of Monkey Flowers of various patterns, colors, and shapes. Chances are nearly 100 per cent that you\u2019d want to sip the nectar of a pink flower with a white central ring (Mimulus lewisii<\/em>), and you would never even glance at the solid red blossom (Mimulus cardinalis<\/em>) growing nearby. Those you would leave to the hummingbirds.<\/p>\n

The so-called Monkey Flowers in the genus Mimulus<\/em> got their name because their flowers have a mouth-like shape, and to some they resemble the face of a monkey. They are actually a diverse group of some 150 species worldwide, with about 80 of those species native to California.<\/p>\n

While much is already known about the genetics of flower color intensity, little is known about the spatial patterns of pigmentation, such as the ones that help attract bumblebees and other pollinators to certain plants.<\/p>\n

But now, in a paper<\/a> published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science<\/em> (PNAS)<\/em>, UConn researcher Yaowu Yuan and his colleagues report that they have unlocked some of the mysteries of pattern formation and why there are differences in patterns between two closely related species.<\/p>\n

Yuan, an assistant professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, says the researchers identified a specific gene (called LIGHT AREAS 1 OR LAR1) that is responsible for the spatial pattern variation between the bumblebee-pollinated M. lewisii<\/em> and the hummingbird-pollinated M. cardinalis<\/em>. This gene affects the spatial distribution of anthocyanins \u2013 the pigments in flowers responsible for colors on the pink, purple, blue spectrum.<\/p>\n

\"Ecology<\/a>
Ecology and evolutionary biology professor Yaowu Yuan, right, and Ph.D. student Lauren Stanley look at monkey flowers in the research greenhouse. (Sheila Foran\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LAR1 has a regulatory effect on something called flavonols \u2013 chemical compounds that are similar to anthocyanins in structure but are usually colorless.<\/p>\n

In answer to the question of how this gene makes the patterns different between species, Yuan explains that there is essentially a competition going on between the anthocyanin pigments and the flavonols.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe production of pigments requires activation of a biochemical pathway \u2013 a series of chemical reactions that convert pigment precursors to colorful pigments,” he says. “The biosynthesis of anthocyanins and flavonols rely on the same pigment precursors. If there are high activities of flavonol biosynthesis in a cell, the precursors are all ‘eaten up’ \u2013 little anthocyanin [pigment] will be produced \u2013 and vice versa.\u201d<\/p>\n

The interplay between the two sets up a \u2018prepattern\u2019 of pigment distribution in M. lewisii<\/em>, producing the white region surrounding the throat of the otherwise pink petals: the white region has high activities of flavonol biosynthesis caused by the LAR1 gene.<\/p>\n

In the \u2018sister\u2019 species M. cardinalis<\/em>, there are low activities of flavonol biosynthesis throughout the flower, because LAR1 is not expressed in that species.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"A<\/a>
A hummingbird sipping nectar from Mimulus cardinalis<\/em> in the garden outside the Torrey Life Sciences Building. (Photo courtesy of Yaowu Yuan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\"A<\/a>
A bumblebee sipping nectar from Mimulus lewisii<\/em> in the garden outside the Torrey Life Sciences Building. (Photo courtesy of Yaowu Yuan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

While colors and patterns may be what attract various pollinators to certain flowers, co-author Lauren Stanley, a doctoral student in ecology and evolutionary biology, points out that this is just the beginning of the process. The shape of the flowers also makes a big difference, with the long tongue of a hummingbird able to reach nectar buried deep within a narrow floral tube. At the opposite extreme, the stubby bumblebee prefers wider floral tubes so that it can crawl in to sip the nectar.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a fascinating study,\u201d Stanley says, \u201cbecause it combines both developmental genetics and evolution. The genetics explains the color patternings, and the evolution explains how various species of plants and animals have adapted to suit each other\u2019s needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

She notes that the hummingbird is attracted to the color red, whereas the bumblebee doesn\u2019t have the visual receptors for this color but it can recognize the pink and white pattern on the species it favors. The shape of the individual blossom further differentiates the species from one another.<\/p>\n

Understanding the mechanism behind colors and patterns in flowers is not only interesting from a basic science perspective, it has potential applications for commercial agricultural crops and for the horticulture industry.<\/p>\n

And for Yuan, working with Monkey Flowers in the EEB research greenhouse, there\u2019s an additional benefit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is such a calming place,\u201d he says with a smile. \u201cIf my day isn\u2019t going as planned, I come up here and spend about 20 minutes, and everything comes into focus. I feel lucky that my research involves finding out what makes flowers so beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UConn researchers have identified a gene that’s responsible for the colors and patterns attracting different pollinators to different species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":109514,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2226,2225],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1935],"class_list":["post-109383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clas","category-uconn-storrs"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-11 05:38:17","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109383"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109610,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109383\/revisions\/109610"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/109514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109383"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=109383"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=109383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}