Nectar metabolomes contribute to pollination syndromes

• Published in: The New phytologist Vol. 247; no. 2; pp. 951 - 967
• Main Authors: MacNeill, Fiona T., Hunter, Sarah G., Muth, Felicity, Sedio, Brian E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.07.2025; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Animals; bee; Bees; Bees - physiology; Birds; Chemistry; Convergence; Disorders; Flowers; Flowers - physiology; hummingbird; Leaves; Metabolites; Metabolome; Metabolomics; Nectar; nectar chemistry; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; plant defense; Plant Leaves - metabolism; Plant nectar; Plant Nectar - chemistry; Plant Nectar - metabolism; Plant reproduction; Pollination; Pollination - physiology; Pollinators; Salvia; Salvia - metabolism; Salvia - physiology; specialized metabolites; nectar chemistry; bee; plant defense; metabolomics; hummingbird; Salvia; specialized metabolites
• ISSN: 0028-646X; 1469-8137; 1469-8137
• DOI: 10.1111/nph.70217

Summary ‘Pollination syndromes’, where convergent floral signals reflect selection from a functional pollinator group, are often characterized by physical features, yet floral rewards such as nectar may also reflect selection from pollinators. We asked whether nectar chemistry shows evidence of convergence across functional pollinator groups, i.e. a ‘chemical pollination syndrome’. We used untargeted metabolomics to compare nectar and leaf chemical profiles across 19 bee‐ and bird‐syndrome species, focusing on Salvia spp. (Lamiaceae), selected to maximize switching events between pollination syndromes. We found that independently derived bird‐syndrome nectar showed convergence on nectar traits distinct from bee‐syndrome nectar, primarily driven by the composition and concentration of alkaloid profiles. We did not find evidence for ‘passive leaking’ of nectar compounds from leaves since metabolite abundances were uncorrelated across tissues and many nectar metabolites were not present in leaves. Nectar and leaf metabolomes were strongly decoupled from phylogenetic relationships within Salvia. These results suggest that functional pollinator groups may drive the evolution of floral reward chemistry, consistent with our ‘chemical pollination syndrome’ hypothesis and indicative of selection by pollinators, but we also consider alternative explanations. In addition, our results support the notion that nectar chemistry can be decoupled from that of other tissues.