The existence of flowering plants depends on specific pollinators

A male bee (orchid bee) is collecting aroma compounds from the flowers of the orchid Notylia. The female bee (orchid bee) will choose a partner based on a blend of chemical compounds.

The bee pollination for orchid bee is not too dependent on orchids in evolution, according to the results of a new study, which has challenged the prevailing view of how: plants and insects pollinate it, grow together.

Biologists have long argued that species in highly specialized collaborations often engage in a simultaneous, continuous evolutionary process.

"What we see is that the reciprocal professional evolution did not exist between the pollinated bees for orchids and orchids," according to intern Dr. Santiago Ramirez, lead author of the study. rescued and researcher working at the laboratory of Associate Professor Neil Tsutsui Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California Berkeley USA.

"Bees grow much earlier independently, while orchids appear to have been caught up."

Specific links between bees and orchid species: they come together and have been recognized by botanists and naturalists, including Charles Darwin. Biologists found that male bees need specific perfume compounds produced by this flowering plant to mate with female bees.

In the study, published in the journal Science , published on September 23, 2011, researchers examined more than 7,000 male bees and DNA sequences from pollinaria 140 orchids , small packets containing all seeds. Pollen is produced by a single flower. Researchers have been able to deduce the evolutionary history of both bees and orchids and how these bees pollinate. The researchers also quantified and analyzed the fragrances collected by orchid bees and compared them to the compounds produced by orchid flowers.

Surprisingly, the scientists found that these bees had grown at least 12 million years ago compared to their orchid counterparts . In addition, the researchers also found that the compounds produced by orchids make up only 10% of the compounds collected by these bees. 90% of the remaining compounds can come from other sources, including sap.

"This suggests that male bees in evolutionary chemistry have collected these compounds from many different sources, and orchids have evolved slower for millions of years," says Ramirez. .

In essence, orchids have a pressing need to be pollinated by bees much larger than the opposite demands of bees and orchids.

This finding is important for biological conservation, especially due to the alarming decline in the past 15 years of pollinated bees worldwide.

"Many plants are very dependent on their characteristic pollinators," said Ramirez, who started this work while still a graduate student in the laboratory of biological professor Naomi Pierce. , Harvard University, USA. "If a bee is extinct, then there are 3-4 species of orchids disappear".

Many relatives of these orchids do not create any other form of reward, such as nectar, to attract other pollinators.

Ramirez said: "Our research is consistent with the new theory: the idea that insects have played an important role in promoting the proliferation of flowering plants. " . "This highlights the interdepen- dence of ecosystems, as well as the evolution of their flowering plants and their characteristic pollinators, suggesting that the new threat to insects is pollen can have a profound effect on the ecosystems where flowering plants are living. "