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Phenotypic selection on the staminal lever mechanism in Salvia digitaloides (Labiaceae)

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Abstract

The staminal lever mechanism of pollination in Salvia has been considered as a key innovation, which was proposed to contribute to adaptive radiation of the genus. Considering its sophisticated interaction with pollinators, we hypothesized that relevant floral traits in the lever mechanism might be subject to intense selection in natural populations. In the present study, Salvia digitaloides was employed to investigate phenotypic selection on the floral traits. The results indicated that there were large variations in the floral structural traits and spatial position of the stigma. No significant selection was detected on the plausible key trait, i.e. the stamen lever length. Strong stabilizing selection acted consistently on the size of corolla entrance; that is, the intermediate corolla entrance was at a selective advantage. Both corolla length and style exsertion were subject to opposite directional selection in both years; and corolla entrance height was subject to disruptive selection, which was attributed to divergent adaptation of the trait to different body-sized pollinators. Furthermore, correlational selection acted on a few pairs of traits which described corolla entrance size and stigma position. Flower production was consistently subject to significantly positive directional selection in both years. In conclusion, it was most likely that floral traits involved in the staminal lever mechanism evolved in a functionally integrated manner for the enhancement of pollination efficiency in the natural population of S. digitaloides.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Zheng-Hua Xie for the identification of bumble-bee specimens, Regine Claßen-Bockhoff and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on the manuscript, and Victor Squires for language polishing. This work was supported by National Basic Research Program of China (973) 2007CB411603, International Science & Technology Cooperation Program of China (2013DFR30760), the CAS/SAFEA International Partnership Program for Creative Research Teams and the Fund for Top One Hundred Young Scientists of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecosystem of Ministry of Education, and Sino-U.S. Centers for Grazing-land Ecosystem Sustainability, College of Pratacultural Science, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, 730070, China

    Bo Zhang

  2. Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun Town, Mengla County, 666303, Yunnan, China

    Bo Zhang & Qing-Jun Li

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  1. Bo Zhang
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  2. Qing-Jun Li
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Correspondence to Bo Zhang or Qing-Jun Li.

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Zhang, B., Li, QJ. Phenotypic selection on the staminal lever mechanism in Salvia digitaloides (Labiaceae). Evol Ecol 28, 373–386 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-013-9679-2

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