A specialized orchid database, named Orchidstra (URL: http://orchidstra.abrc.sinica.edu.tw), has been constructed to collect, annotate and share genomic information for orchid functional genomics studies. The Orchidaceae is a large family of Angiosperms that exhibits extraordinary biodiversity in terms of both the number of species and their distribution worldwide. Orchids exhibit many unique b...

Warmer springs advance many phenological events, including flowering time in plants and the flight time of insects. Pollination by insects, an ecosystem service of immense economic and conservation importance, depends on synchrony between insect activity and flowering time. If plants and their pollinators show different phenological responses to climate warming, pollination could fail. Informat...

Harvest of orchid tubers for salep production is widespread in southwestern Asia and the Balkans and constitutes a major conservation risk for wild orchid populations. Synanthropic habitats, such as graveyards, are important refuges for orchids and other organisms and could offer protection from salep harvesting because of their special cultural role. However, little is known about the occurren...

Dry seeds of many orchid species, when stored at low temperatures, are capable of maintaining high levels of viability for many years, supporting orchid seed banking as a valuable part of emerging integrated conservation strategies. The Orchid Seed Science and Sustainable Use (OSSSU) network has already stored over 300+ species across 26 countries around the world. Its future ambition to store ...

Cases of imperfect or non-model mimicry are common in plants and animals and challenge intuitive assumptions about the nature of directional selection on mimics. Many non-rewarding flower species do not mimic a particular species, but attract pollinators through ‘generalised food deception’. Some predatory animals also attract pollinators by resembling flowers, perhaps the most well known, yet ...

Background and Aims. The presence of novel structures in orchid flowers, including auricles, rostellum and bursicles on the gynostemium and a lobed labellum, has prompted long-standing homology disputes, fuelled by conflicting evidence from a wide range of sources. Re-assessment of this debate using an improved model is timely, following recent phylogenetic insights and on the cusp of a revolut...

This paper investigates an optimization approach to determining the placement and timing of habitat protection for the western prairie fringed orchid. This plant’s population dynamics are complex, creating a challenging optimization problem. The sensitivity of the orchid to random climate conditions is handled probabilistically. The plant’s seed, protocorm and above-ground stages are all accoun...

OBJECTIVES Trachoma is the leading cause of infectious blindness worldwide. It is known to be highly correlated with poverty, limited access to healthcare services and water. In 2003, the WHO estimated that 84 million people were suffering from active trachoma, and 7.6 million were severely visually impaired or blind as a result of trachoma: this study provides an updated estimate of the global...

correspond in every way to the 'typical' form; they differ, however, in their action on some of the other carbohydrates. Much controversy has arisen as to the part played by B. granulosis in the aetiology of trachoma; moreover, other microorganisms have been isolated and put forward as aetiological factors. Again, various authors have maintained that the condition is due to a virus, to diet def...

The theory of mimicry predicts that selection favors signal refinement in mimics to optimally match the signals released by their specific model species. We provide here chemical and behavioral evidence that a sexually deceptive orchid benefits from its mimetic imperfection to its co-occurring and specific bee model by triggering a stronger response in male bees, which react more intensively to...