Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 22 April 2005:
Vol. 308. no. 5721, pp. 560 - 563
DOI: 10.1126/science.1107536
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Postsecretory Hydrolysis of Nectar Sucrose and Specialization in Ant/Plant Mutualism

M. Heil,* J. Rattke, W. Boland

Obligate Acacia ant plants house mutualistic ants as a defense mechanism and provide them with extrafloral nectar (EFN). Ant/plant mutualisms are widespread, but little is known about the biochemical basis of their species specificity. Despite its importance in these and other plant/animal interactions, little attention has been paid to the control of the chemical composition of nectar. We found high invertase (sucrose-cleaving) activity in Acacia EFN, which thus contained no sucrose. Sucrose, a disaccharide common in other EFNs, usually attracts nonsymbiotic ants. The EFN of the ant acacias was therefore unattractive to such ants. The Pseudomyrmex ants that are specialized to live on Acacia had almost no invertase activity in their digestive tracts and preferred sucrose-free EFN. Our results demonstrate postsecretory regulation of the carbohydrate composition of nectar.

Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Max-Planck-Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans-Knöll-Strasse 8, D-07745 Jena, Germany.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed at FB 9 BioGeo-Allgemeine Botanik/Pflanzenökologie, University of Duisburg-Essen, Universitätsstraße 5, D-45117 Essen, Germany. E-mail: Heil_Martin{at}web.de

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
CELL WALL INVERTASE 4 is required for nectar production in Arabidopsis.
J. M. Ruhlmann, B. W. Kram, and C. J. Carter (2009)
J. Exp. Bot.
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Plant and Insect Biodiversity Special Feature: Divergent investment strategies of Acacia myrmecophytes and the coexistence of mutualists and exploiters.
M. Heil, M. Gonzalez-Teuber, L. W. Clement, S. Kautz, M. Verhaagh, and J. C. S. Bueno (2009)
PNAS 106, 18091-18096
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The MYB305 Transcription Factor Regulates Expression of Nectarin Genes in the Ornamental Tobacco Floral Nectary.
G. Liu, G. Ren, A. Guirgis, and R. W. Thornburg (2009)
PLANT CELL 21, 2672-2687
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Nectar and pollination drops: how different are they?.
M. Nepi, P. von Aderkas, R. Wagner, S. Mugnaini, A. Coulter, and E. Pacini (2009)
Ann. Bot. 104, 205-219
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Bacterial Associates of Arboreal Ants and Their Putative Functions in an Obligate Ant-Plant Mutualism.
S. Eilmus and M. Heil (2009)
Appl. Envir. Microbiol. 75, 4324-4332
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Why Does Herbivore Attack Reconfigure Primary Metabolism?.
J. Schwachtje and I. T. Baldwin (2008)
Plant Physiology 146, 845-851
   Full Text »    PDF »
Extreme intraplant variation in nectar sugar composition in an insect-pollinated perennial herb.
C. M. Herrera, R. Perez, and C. Alonso (2006)
Am. J. Botany 93, 575-581
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)