Fruit Odor as A Ripeness Signal for Seed-Dispersing Primates? A Case Study on Four Neotropical Plant Species.
Fruit Odor as A Ripeness Signal for Seed-Dispersing Primates? A Case Study on Four Neotropical Plant Species.
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DOI：
10.1007/s10886-016-0687-x
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发表时间：
2016-04
影响因子：
2.3
通讯作者：
Ayasse M
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Nevo O;Heymann EW;Schulz S;Ayasse M
肉质果实含有大量的次生代谢物，可以实现各种非相互排斥的生态功能。其中包括防御病原体和食草动物，操纵食果动物的肠道停留时间，或控制发芽过程。此外，它已被建议，芳香化合物可作为水果选择线索的食果动物，植物可能是在选择提供一个可靠的信号，成熟的种子传播媒介通过成熟的水果香气。先前的一个项目表明，两种新热带灵长类分散的植物物种的果实气味可以被灵长类动物用来识别成熟的果实。在这里，我们提供的数据支持这两个物种的成熟嗅觉显着的假设可能是一个进化的信号，而不是一个线索利用灵长类动物。我们分析了这两个物种的成熟和未成熟的果实的气味沿着，以及两个同域物种的气味，其主要传播媒介是雀形目鸟类。我们发现，只有灵长类动物分散的物种显着改变其气味配置文件成熟后。因此，鸟类传播的物种的气味是没有信息的成熟程度，很可能履行其他功能。我们讨论了这些数据的水果次生代谢产物的存在下的多种假设，我们提供了一个路线图，为未来的研究，以建立假设，水果气味是成熟的进化信号。本文的在线版本（doi：10.1007/s10886-016-0687-x）包含补充材料，可供授权用户使用。
Fleshy fruits contain a myriad of secondary metabolites that may fulfill various non-mutually exclusive ecological functions. Among them are defense against pathogens and herbivores, manipulation of frugivores’ gut retention time, or controlling the germination process. In addition, it has been suggested that aroma compounds may be used as fruit-selection cues by frugivores, and that plants may be under selection to provide a reliable signal for ripeness to seed-dispersal vectors through ripe fruit aroma. A previous project demonstrated that fruit odor of two Neotropical primate-dispersed plant species can be used by primates to identify ripe fruits. Here, we provide data supporting the hypothesis that olfactory conspicuousness of ripeness in these two species may be an evolved signal rather than a cue exploited by primates. We analyzed the odors of ripe and unripe fruits of the two species along with odors of two sympatric species whose main dispersal vector is passerine birds. We show that only primate-dispersed species significantly change their odor profiles upon ripening. Thus, odor of bird-dispersed species is not informative regarding their ripeness level and is likely to fulfill other functions. We discuss these data in light of the multiple hypotheses for the presence of fruit secondary metabolites, and we offer a roadmap for future studies to establish the hypothesis that fruit odor is an evolved signal for ripeness. The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10886-016-0687-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.