Domestication Reduces Floral Volatile Richness in Squash (Cucurbitaceae: Cucurbita) But Conserves Key Compounds Critical for Pollinator Attraction.

ABSTRACT: The domestication of crops leads to profound changes on plant phenotypes, yet its effects on floral traits mediating plant-pollinator interactions remain poorly understood. Floral volatile organic compounds (VOCs) play a crucial role in pollinator attraction by signaling the presence and quality of available floral resources. Here, we characterize VOC composition in Cucurbita, a genus containing multiple wild and domesticated species, to investigate how domestication affects floral volatiles. Then, we combined electrophysiology, blue vane trap field assays and pollinator visitation experiments to assess how the squash specialist pollinator, Xenoglossa pruinosa, responded to existing VOCs across different wild and domesticated plant species. Our results reveal significant compound losses wi

SUBMITTER: Singh A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12675732 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature