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Composition of the floral nectar of different subgenera of Argentinian Passiflora species

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Abstract

The composition of the floral nectar sugars and amino acids of four species of Passiflora (P. foetida, P. caerulea, P. suberosa, and P. misera) included in different infrageneric taxa and with distinct pollination mechanisms has been studied. The effect of weather and floral age on nectar volume, existence, and total and relative amounts of the various compounds was explored. The proportion of sugars was rather constant within a given species whereas the composition, number, and total quantity of amino acids showed great intraspecific and intra-plant variability; these nectar properties were independent of floral stage or meteorological conditions. Species belonging to the same subgenus displayed equivalent sugar ratios and similar total amount of amino acids, so these characteristics might be conservative in the genus. For all species, the amino acid concentration surpassed known values for their respective pollination syndromes, viz. bee and wasp-pollinated flowers. No relationship emerged between pollinators with different glossa length and nectars with distinct sugar ratios. Rather, nectar chemical composition seems to reflect taxonomic relationships.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to D. Piechowski, who kindly gave advice for concentration conversions, to H. Malchus, who analysed the samples, to M.L. Bolkovic for her expertise teaching use of Excel’s graphics, and to L. Rodríguez Planes for help with statistics. This work was financed by the grant PICT 32866 of the ANPCyT (Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica) from Argentina. M.T. Amela García is a research assistant from CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. DBBE, FCEyN, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    María Teresa Amela García

  2. Botanical Garden and Herbarium, University of Ulm, 89081, Ulm, Germany

    Gerhard Gottsberger

  3. Lab. 79, 4 p., Pab. II, C1428EHA Ciudad Universitaria, C.A.B.A, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    María Teresa Amela García

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  1. María Teresa Amela García
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  2. Gerhard Gottsberger
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Correspondence to María Teresa Amela García.

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Amela García, M.T., Gottsberger, G. Composition of the floral nectar of different subgenera of Argentinian Passiflora species. Plant Syst Evol 283, 133–147 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-009-0215-3

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