Chemical Basis of Floral Color Signals in Gesneriaceae: The Effect of Alternative Anthocyanin Pathways.

ABSTRACT: Changes in floral pigmentation can have dramatic effects on angiosperm evolution by making flowers either attractive or inconspicuous to different pollinator groups. Flower color largely depends on the type and abundance of pigments produced in the petals, but it is still unclear whether similar color signals rely on same biosynthetic pathways and to which extent the activation of certain pathways influences the course of floral color evolution. To address these questions, we investigated the physical and chemical aspects of floral color in the Neotropical Gesnerioideae (ca. 1,200 spp.), in which two types of anthocyanins, hydroxyanthocyanins, and deoxyanthocyanins, have been recorded as floral pigments. Using spectrophotometry, we measured flower reflectance for over 150 species represent

SUBMITTER: Ogutcen E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7767864 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature