March 4th, 2022 - Constanza Maubecin

Next SolSeminar will be presented by Constanza Maubecin on Pollination by oil-collecting bees and its implication in floral evolution in genus Nierembergia

Abstract. Studying pollination interactions provides the opportunity to better understand mechanisms or driving factors that underlie evolution in flowering plants. Plants bearing oil-flowers are pollinated by a specialized group of bees, the oil-collecting bees, that encompass a great diversity, not only at taxonomic level but also in morphological and behavioral aspects. Nierembergia is the only genus of the Solanaceae family that presents the particularity of offering non-volatile oil as floral reward to pollinators. Since oil-collecting bees are functionally diverse, we recorded the pollinator assemblages of several species and varieties of Nierembergia and examined whether these bees, despite their gross commonalities, may be exerting divergence within and among oil-flowered species or promoting convergence to some general oil-flower morphology that can be pollinated by a functional range of oil-bees. We traced the evolutionary consequences of this interaction at different levels of phenotype organization to understand to what extent oil-collecting bees have influenced diversification in Nierembergia

When? Friday March 4th 4 pm (GMT+0)

The zoom link to join the meeting is https://cuboulder.zoom.us/j/94333146166 Meeting ID: 943 3314 6166, password: Solanaceae