No evidence of flowering synchronization upon floral volatiles for a short lived annual plant species: revisiting an appealing hypothesis

摘要

BackgroundSelf-incompatible plants require simultaneous flowering mates for crosspollination and reproduction. Though the presence of flowering conspecifics and pollination agents are important for reproductive success, so far no cues that signal the flowering state of potential mates have been identified. Here, we empirically tested the hypothesis that plant floral volatiles induce flowering synchrony among self-incompatible conspecifics by acceleration of flowering and flower opening rate of non-flowering conspecifics. We exposed Brassica rapa Maarssen, a self-incompatible, in rather dense patches growing annual, to (1) flowering or non-flowering conspecifics or to (2) floral volatiles of conspecifics by isolating plants in separate containers with a directional airflow. In the latter, odors emitted by non-flowering conspecifics were used as control.