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Evolution of the staminode in a representative sample of Scrophularia and its role as nectar safeguard in three widespread species

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Abstract

Approximately 30 % of the genera of Scrophulariaceae s.str. have a staminode, which is the remnant of a sterile stamen. However, there are no studies of the functionality or evolutionary pattern of staminodes in that family. This paper investigates three Scrophularia species with different staminode sizes to determine if the staminode safeguards nectar from dilution by rainwater and if it influences pollinator behavior. We also study staminode evolution and ancestral state reconstruction onto a phylogeny containing 71 species and subspecies with four different staminode developmental stages: tiny, large, enormous, and absent. The results showed that large staminodes did not hinder nectar collection or modify pollinator-visiting time but acted as a barrier to reduce rainwater entry. The latter reduced the dilution of nectar, which did not occur with tiny staminodes. The phylogenetic study revealed that the ancestral state in the genus corresponds with the presence of a large staminode vs. the tiny and enormous staminodes that are considered as derived. The complete disappearance of the staminode has occurred independently at least twice. Events occurred that increased or reduced the staminode size in one of the clades (Clade II), which includes species of sect. Caninae; most of these events occurred during the Pleistocene (0.6–2.7 Ma).

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through Project CGL2011-24140, co-financed by European Regional Development Fund. Partial funding was obtained from the Economy, Trade, and Innovation Council of Extremadura (CCV004). A FPI fellowship (BES-2009-011957) by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation to MLN-P is greatly appreciated. The herbaria (E, MA, MJG, MO, SALA, UNEX) gave permission for DNA extraction from some specimens, and M. Kintgen (Denver Bot. Gard.), A. Amini Rad (Iranian Res. Inst. Pl. Protection), and M. Sequeira kindly sent us Scrophularia samples. We thank C. Mayo and J. Núñez (University of Extremadura) for helping in the field. We appreciate two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions. The English text was corrected and improved by L. Zonia and F. Donnelly (Bioedit, England).

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

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This article does not contain any studies with animal manipulation in our experiments. The activities carried out only involved the observation of insect pollinators, never their collection.

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  1. Área de Botánica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Extremadura, Avda. de Elvas s/n, 06006, Badajoz, Spain

    Tomás Rodríguez-Riaño, Francisco J. Valtueña, Josefa López, María Luisa Navarro-Pérez & Ana Ortega-Olivencia

  2. Área de Zoología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Extremadura, Avda. de Elvas s/n, 06006, Badajoz, Spain

    José Luis Pérez-Bote

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  1. Tomás Rodríguez-Riaño
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Correspondence to Ana Ortega-Olivencia.

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Rodríguez-Riaño, T., Valtueña, F.J., López, J. et al. Evolution of the staminode in a representative sample of Scrophularia and its role as nectar safeguard in three widespread species. Sci Nat 102, 37 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-015-1284-5

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