Floral Nectar: Production and Regulation Lecture

"Floral Nectar: Production and Regulation" 

The lecture will be presented by Dr. Ren Zongxin, and it promises to offer valuable insights into the complex dynamics between plants and their animal pollinators.

Abstract:

Floral nectar is central to most relationships between plants and animal pollinators, yet it remains poorly understood. The costs of floral nectar production to a plant are significant, and there is growing evidence that plants can secrete and absorb nectar, possibly enabling them to manipulate pollinator behavior to their advantage. Nectar may also attract or repulse pollinators via its attributes, although such cases are considered rare. In this talk, I will present new findings on the cost, regulation, and partner manipulation for multiple plant species pollinated by various animal pollinators. Through a series of floral nectar removal, reabsorption, and artificial addition experiments, we found evidence of simultaneous nectar secretion/absorption and regulation of sugar volume, concentration, and type. We also show that some nectar attributes between neighboring flowers within a plant are correlated in bagged and open pollination treatments, indicating partner manipulation. Overall, our results reveal novel insights into the cost and regulation of nectar and its role in plant-pollinator relationships.

Details of the Lecture:

• Date: April 24th

• Time: 14:30 - 15:30

• Location: CSMT 108