Nectar-living yeasts of a tropical host plant community: diversity and effects on community-wide floral nectar traits.

ABSTRACT: We characterize the diversity of nectar-living yeasts of a tropical host plant community at different hierarchical sampling levels, measure the associations between yeasts and nectariferous plants, and measure the effect of yeasts on nectar traits. Using a series of hierarchically nested sampling units, we extracted nectar from an assemblage of host plants that were representative of the diversity of life forms, flower shapes, and pollinator types in the tropical area of Yucatan, Mexico. Yeasts were isolated from single nectar samples; their DNA was identified, the yeast cell density was estimated, and the sugar composition and concentration of nectar were quantified using HPLC. In contrast to previous studies from temperate regions, the diversity of nectar-living yeasts in the plant commu

SUBMITTER: Canto A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5511698 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature