Abstract

Many plants rely on insect pollination, yet numerous agricultural plant-breeding programs focus on traits that appeal to growers and consumers instead of pollinators, leading to declining pollinator attraction and crop yields. Using hybrid carrot seed production as a model, we investigated low-yielding carrot varieties by analyzing sugars and minerals in nectar and floral volatile composition. While the analysis of nectar sugars and minerals did not reveal any key differences between the carrot varieties, differences between the 112 detected volatiles in 23 samples were observed. Numerous differentiating sesquiterpenes were identified in floral solvent extracts, and subsequent behavioral assays showed that beta-ocimene from higher-yielding carrot varieties stimulated nectar feeding (attractant), while alpha- and beta-selinene from lower-yielding lines decreased feeding (deterrents). Sesquiterpenes have previously been implicated in plant defense, suggesting a trade-off between pollination and protection. Our results highlight the importance of volatiles as regulators of pollinator attraction in agricultural settings.

Keywords

pollination; chemistry; crop; sesquiterpene; floral volatiles

Published in

Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
2023, Volume: 71, number: 43, pages: 16079-16089
Publisher: AMER CHEMICAL SOC

SLU Authors

• Bohman, Björn

  • Department of Plant Protection Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • University of Western Australia

Associated SLU-program

SLU Plant Protection Network


UKÄ Subject classification

Agricultural Science
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.3c03392

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/127729